
THE 

WARDEN 



FA1RBAIRN 



&3S3S*ffii 



rm 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Chap. Copyright No. 

ShelL.BIS'm 

-— F3 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE COLLEGE WARDEN 




The Warden. 



THE 

COLLEGE WARDEN 



BY 

HENRY A. FAIRBAIRN, M.A., M.D. 



NEW YORK 

THOMAS WHITTAKER 

2 and 3 Bible House 
1899 




D.D., LL.D. 



THE 

COLLEGE WARDEN 



BY 

HENRY A. FAIRBAIRN, M.A., M.D. 



NEW YORK 

THOMAS WHITTAKER 

2 and 3 Bible House 

i8 99 



' 







31673 



Copyright, 1899, by 
THOMAS WHITTAKER 



TWoeo»!^i ^".ceiveo. 




TROW DIRECTORY 

PRINTING AND BOOKBINOING COMPANY 

NEW YORK 






Go 

The Rev. THOMAS R. PYNCHON, D.D., LL.D. 

PROFESSOR OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY, TRINITY COLLEGE, HARTFORD, COXX. 

DISTINGUISHED DIVINE, AUTHOR AND EDUCATOR 

AND LIFE-LONG FRIEND OF THE 

WARDEN AND HIS SON 

THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED WITH 

AFFECTIONATE REGARDS 



PREFACE 

The following narrative was undertaken 
in order to record a life which was full of 
stimulus to all, and especially the youth who 
came in contact with it. 

The attempt is made to draw the picture 
from an intimate companion's standpoint, for 
such was the writer. If the filial affection 
show too markedly, it will be pardoned, 
when the intent of the author, to share a 
glorious example vouchsafed him, is known. 

This brief sketch is submitted under the 
title which appeared most suited to its bearer. 
He lost his personal identity in the exercise 
of his office. 

Biographical detail is omitted as much as 
possible, that alone being introduced which 
appeared to have a direct bearing on the 
character picture in hand. 



PREFACE 

To my esteemed and learned friend, Pro- 
fessor George B. Hopson, D.D., I am greatly 
indebted for the words of eulogy which are 
reproduced in the last pages by his permis- 
sion. They will add much of value and tes- 
timony to the other chapters. 

Grateful acknowledgment is made of the 
aid afforded by my friend, Nathan T. Beers, 
Jr., M.D., in illustrating the work. 

H. A. F. 

Brooklyn, March 3, 1899. 




Page 

I. Boyhood I 

II. College Days . . 13 

III. Clergyman ; Parish Priest ; School-Teacher ; 

Missionary ; Chaplain 27 

IV. Professor 43 

V. The Warden: His Religious and Educational 

Views 57 

VI. Position in the Community 79 

VII. Author and Scholar 105 

VIII. Retirement 129 

IX. Robert B. Fairbairn: A Memorial by Professor 

G. B. Hopson, D.D 141 



: 



BOYHOOD 



BOYHOOD 




OBERT BRINCKERHOFF 
FAIRBAIRN was born in 
New York City in May, 
1818, in the section then 
known as Greenwich vil- 
lage. His father was a 
Scotchman who came to 
this country in 1796; his 
mother an American, formerly 
Miss Mary Mott of Poughkeepsie-on-the- 
Hudson. 

Robert's early days were along unpreten- 
tious lines. His father, at one time a man 
of wealth, was a book publisher with limited 
resources. That means much to a child, 
and it meant much to Robert. He was a 
vigorous fellow fortunately; he was vigorous 

3 



THE WARDEN 

in mind and body, and had not passed 
many years of existence before we find him 
in active life, with a school education, of 
which he often spoke afterwards — its rigid 
discipline, the application of a rattan for a 
mis-spelled word, or for an accidental smile 
at play of wit, in contrast to the moral suasion 
of the present day. 

After his school days he became a clerk in 
a stationery store, at 301 Pearl Street, New 
York, which belonged to Mr. Octavius Long- 
worth, a resident of Williamsburgh, with 
whom he boarded. Robert had already de- 
veloped a taste for reading, particularly 
along theological lines. We hear of his fre- 
quent and persistent argument with his father, 
a devout Presbyterian, on questions of re- 
ligion, and we hear of the parental protest 
against heresy. We hear, moreover, of 
untoward prophecy as to the destiny of the 
son who had so far deviated from the trodden 
path as to identify himself with the Protestant 
Episcopal Church. We hear again of his 



BOYHOOD 



persistence in this course after the logical 
mind had laid out its lines, in the face of 
argument and respectful discussion. 

The Rev. Samuel M. Haskins, of Will- 
iamsburgh, now a part of Brooklyn, was 
Robert's rector at this 
time. He had a chap- 
el, and was engaged 
in the erection of the 
now historic St. 
Mark's Church, 
Brooklyn, E. D. The 
chapel was unique in 
that there was a cross 
upon it. There was 
no other Protestant 
Episcopal Church in 
New York or Brook- 
lyn — we may say in 
the country — at the 

time so adorned. The Puritanical horror of 
the cross as a relic of Popish idolatry was still 
prevalent. In St. Paul's, in New York, there 

5 




Samuel M. Haskins, D.D. 



THE WARDEN 

was a small cross on the pulpit, which latter 
was a high, ancient one, surmounting a desk 
where the clergy read the service. Dr. Has- 
kins's chapel was one of four Protestant Epis- 
copal churches in Brooklyn. In New York 
at the time there were seventeen. 

There were some features of particular 
interest in the little chapel of St. Mark's. 
They were thought to be " High," extremely 
" High Church " at that time. There was a 
lofty altar on three steps. Upon this was a 
golden cross surrounded by rays, and on either 
side was a candelabrum with seven candles in 
each. The introduction of these ornaments 
was according to the teaching of Bishop 
Whittingham. They were so unusual at the 
time that people thought the church Roman 
Catholic, and would often enter the edifice 
and depart with the same idea. Roman 
Catholics, on the other hand, would frequently 
remain until the beginning of service would 
make plain their mistake. We mention these 
facts in the religious experience in early 



BOYHOOD 

youth as they may have a bearing on the 
future. 

It was at this time that there was much 
difference of opinion as to the style of altar: 
whether it should be the simple open table 
or the closed one of modern times. Bishop 
Mcllvaine, of Ohio, was especially strenuous 
on the subject, refusing absolutely to conse- 
crate a church until he had examined it and 
found it provided with a four-legged or open 
table. On one occasion he examined an altar 
which appeared open, because the panels had 
been taken out for the time being, and so it 
passed. Subsequently the panels were replaced. 

Dr. Haskins and Mr. Longworth speak of 
the sobriety of Robert, his close attention to 
his work, his promptness, his cheerful disposi- 
tion and his neatness in book-binding and 
other work. 

On Sunday he was a regular and con- 
stant attendant on divine service in the 
little chapel of St. Mark's. He never al- 
lowed anything to interfere with this, which 



THE WARDEN 

he regarded as a paramount duty. And in 
the same spirit he continued throughout his 
career. It is a point to emphasize, it is 
an element in the steadfast faith which 
he builded, which proved his sure foun- 
dation : that he was a constant attendant 
on the sanctuary. Well may the youth of 
the day ponder thereon, well may they dwell 
upon it in these times when worldly pleasures 
abound to draw them away ! Thus grew 
the quiet, thoughtful, cheerful, guileless char- 
acter which then, and ever after, was a joy to 
itself and an example and support to others. 

In after life we find the following expres- 
sion in one of his sermons, which well states 
his innate feeling on the matter : " I look 
upon the church," he said, "as the place 
above all others where joy and peace and 
happiness may be found, where you may 
leave the world behind you, and where you 
may find your highest consolation. It ought 
to be the place whose associations are those 
of the highest happiness and the deepest joy." 






BOYHOOD 



Robert's character attracted the attention 
of many. They saw in him the indications 
of more than ordinary worth, and encouraged 
him in his determination to secure a thorough 
education. Prominent among them was Miss 
Juliana Longworth and to her constant in- 
terest, manifested by many a kindly act, was 
due, in part, the attainment of a college 
education. It was my pleasure to meet her 
in recent years. She spoke with pride of the 
straightforward career, and emphasized Rob- 
ert's studious habits as an element of his suc- 
cess. His evenings, she said, were passed 
in communion with his books, which, by the 
way, were numerous and were supplied by 
his father's publishing house. She made 
especial mention of the works of Robert 
Burns, an edition issued by Dr. J. Currie, of 
Liverpool, and published by William Fair- 
bairn in Philadelphia in 1804, and was 
pleased to find that the quaint old volumes 
had been preserved. 

Robert's accurate memory for the dates 
9 



THE WARDEN 

and facts which he had gathered in his exten- 
sive reading made him an entertaining com- 
panion. He was a person of remarkable 
judgment for his years. This, with good 
common sense and refinement of manner, 
which showed a goodly inheritance as well 
as cultivation, endeared him to men of prom- 
inence. They made him their companion 
and associate. 

In a business house adjoining that in which 
Robert was employed he became acquainted 
with a youth of congenial nature. Between 
them an intimacy sprang up, fostered by their 
daily intercourse. It continued unbroken for 
many a day, and when the change of occu- 
pation came their paths were widely sepa- 
rated. For fifty years they failed to meet. 
Finally they came together at the convoca- 
tion of the University Regents at Albany, 
N. Y., Robert then an educator of distinction, 
his companion a noted jurist. The inter- 
course of early years thus re-established con- 
tinued to the end. Their industry, their 



BOYHOOD 

characters, their tastes, their aims, which 
brought them together at first, had progressed 
by cultivation to a healthy maturity, and 
made them an influence each in his own 
sphere. 

The much-beloved clergyman, the Rev. 
Dr. Haskins, was in after years, as in the 
earlier, a close companion and friend of Rob- 
ert. He visited him in college and parish 
and retirement, and exercised by his faith 
and benevolence a telling influence on the 
youth's career. 

The arrangements for a collegiate course 
were finally completed. The sturdy youth 
grew more studious and active, if that were 
possible, as the days went by and it became 
apparent that fortune had smiled on him. 
The plans for the future were quickly laid, 
the institution chosen, and Mr. Longworth 
lost his valuable clerk and the Rector his 
youthful parishioner. 



ii 



COLLEGE DAYS 



II 



COLLEGE DAYS 




E must not tarry, in 
this brief narra- 
tive, to note the 
journey by steam- 
er, coach, and 
foot to the odd 
little college in 
the Pennsylvan- 
ian town. Hap- 
piness, zeal, faith in the future were the qual- 
ities in Robert which inspired his friends in 
their many ministrations to his comfort and 
welfare. He departed with every detail of 
moderate want attended to by kind and faith- 
ful hearts. He entered on his preliminary 
course beneath the sunshine of encouragement 
and adequate support. These two elements 
15 



THE WARDEN 

have builded much of good in all expe- 
rience. 

While certain men of note have traced 
success to hardy discipline in early years, their 
sinews toughened for the future tasks by the 
struggle for an education ; other worthy intel- 
lects have attained that end without such ex- 
perience in their period of development, the 
sunshine of relative prosperity seeming the 
necessary spur to maturity of powers. Its 
lack in fact has stunted, well-nigh blotted out, 
many a promising work. The encourage- 
ment of youth, the godly stimulus to active, 
earnest effort are the daily opportunities of- 
fered along the walks of life. Happy he who 
does not let them pass ! 

It was in October, 1834, that Robert found 
himself in that remarkable institution, Bristol 
College. It was situated in the suburbs of 
the town of Bristol, on the banks of the Dela- 
ware River. History tells us little of this 
seat of learning. It might amuse us much if 

it would only speak. To develop body as 

16 



COLLEGE DAYS 

well as mind was the founder's intent. With 
that end in view, cohorts, with centurions as 
their leaders, were formed. To hoe potatoes 
and to till the soil these mighty bands were 
daily marshalled forth. The call to break- 
fast was at break of day; the final snuff of 
candle during early eve. 

The abounding eccentricity within and the 
vacuity of funds without offered a strain well- 
nigh too great for mortal structure to long 
resist. In two short years, and with a final 
strife, explosion came; and thereafter it re- 
mained unknown. There was one, a learned 
divine, a moral and metaphysical philosopher 
of note, a writer of great force, among the 
few instructors of this training-school. Like 
many men of great talent, he was blunt, pe- 
culiar; in short, he was an uncompromising 
individual. He was the great character of 
the institution, however, and his contributions 
to literature and theology live to-day. I have 
often heard it said that Robert absorbed 
this mans great qualities, which found sym- 
17 



THE WARDEN 

pathetic chords in the youthful heart and 
caused them to vibrate in their nascent state, 
and as they grew they gathered strength 
along the rich, harmonious lines of learned 
thought and philosophic research. And this 
illustrates well the plastic quality of the 
youthful nature. It illustrates well the per- 
petuity of college influence. 

There was another lad within these walls 
whose mind was far above the ordinary. He 
had an inborn vein of wit and humor. The 
eccentric trend of the professor's mind 
amused this youth and he immediately set 
about reproducing it. That he did this with 
great success his after history shows. In the 
pulpit, in the professorial chair, he made his 
mark by the eccentric act. Whatever he 
did, "it was to laugh." He failed in life. 
He failed on account of his frivolity. In 
his case the smaller qualities were repro- 
duced. They alone were allowed to develop, 
and thus the greater ones were lost. 

Were there time for illustration, we might 

18 



COLLEGE DAYS 

name the many acts of this old model. If 
we did so, earnestness would shine out in 
every one. About him there was no sham. 
The act of insolence and insubordination 
brought down certain wrath upon the per- 
petrator's head. A case in point was a 
chapel scene. The text announced was 
terse and blunt and brought a smile to a 
youthful face. In an instant the storm had 
gathered, and the wrathful theologian closed 
his manuscript with an ominous sweep of his 
hand. " Do you laugh at that ? " he cried 
with awful voice. And then and there an 
arraignment followed which has lived for 
many a year. General-like, in an instant, he 
changed his line of campaign to a vigorous 
onslaught on irreverence. 

With all this discipline and lofty teaching, 
human nature showed the same, at times, as it 
does to-day. We hear of the fate of heavy 
bread and rancid butter, when, at signal from 
a stalwart ring-leader, the nauseous articles 
were thrust beneath the wooden tables by the 
19 



THE WARDEN 

aid of the two-pronged forks of steel. We 
hear, moreover, when this lesson failed of the 
overturning of the baker's cart. 

But enough of this! As we said before, 
the elements of disintegration from too great 
pressure within and no support from without 
brought matters to an untimely end. Robert, 
with a scholar's repute already attained, left 
these shades with many companions, to com- 
plete his course in a much-honored place of 
learning. Washington College, at Hartford, 
Conn., now called Trinity, took him under 
her protecting wing and nurtured him, edu- 
cated him, honored him, graduated him, and 
sent him into the world well-equipped. And 
as the man of learning she continued to 
honor him whenever she could. While her 
son, her honor and her works he made his 
own. He distinguished himself by occupy- 
ing the first position in his class. It was not 
ability alone which reaped such reward. Let 
our reader mark well the other element, the 
main element in this and other work, untiring 
20 



COLLEGE DAYS 

industry. He was at his proper place at the 
appointed time with work prepared, and when 
on one occasion he failed, the professor would 
not believe his senses. This professor, de- 
tained by untimely guests, had sent word to 
the waiting class to depart and prepare a les- 
son for the following day. The effervescent 
youths demurred, and there agreed to answer, 
" Not prepared." When, on the following day, 
the assembled class was directed to proceed 
with the aforesaid task, the prearranged answer 
"Not prepared" was received in silence, until 
it came from our faithful youth. This was 
too much for the Scotchman's brain; the wit 
or mischief then became too manifest, and in 
a tone of wrath he cried, " There is a conspir- 
acy, gentlemen; a conspiracy! You are dis- 
missed ! " In after life when recounting the 
scene, in reminiscent strain, to the aged gen- 
tleman, the latter said, with emphatic voice, 
" I say to-day, as I said then, if you were not 
prepared there was a conspiracy." No better 
proof of good and faithful work need here be 

21 



THE WARDEN 

sought. Industry was the youth's character- 
istic, and so it continued ever after. It is one 
of the secrets of success in every life. That, 
with truth and honor and straightforwardness 
go to make up manliness. It is not station 
nor deep learning nor great abilities which 
give character, power, and influence in the 
world. But it is manliness with its four char- 
acteristics. Testimony of teacher and scholar 
and companion bear witness to their posses- 
sion by Robert. 

But where is the youth of great ability 
whom we found busied with his witty creation 
of character in the little college now defunct ? 
He is here, he is at his self-imposed task still. 
Oddity begins to show its unfortunate features 
in his various acts. We hear of a very funny, 
very droll description of a summer's journey 
by this artificial youth. It had much of merit, 
literary merit, within its pages : but the lan- 
guage was the biblical and there the reputa- 
tion lagged. Whatever he did, " it was still 
to laugh." The smaller chords had gained in 



COLLEGE DAYS 

strength by their constant vibration and so 
they continued, as we shall see. 

There were two professors, both men of 
rank and great ability, who taught the youth 
in Robert's time in this institution which has 
given birth to so many valued scholars. They 
were men of originality. They were prone 
to dwell on their particular lines of thought. 
They were odd, therefore, as the common say- 
ing goes. But their sterling qualities over- 
shadowed all of this and they wielded a 
mighty influence. We might tell of much 
in proof of this. We might name in numbers 
those who have adorned the various profes- 
sions by reason of the character moulded here 
and by the aid of these skilled artificers. 
Among them all looms up our witty youth, 
still bent on seeking food for mirth. He 
found in them some more material and used 
it for amusement's sake. 

Quiet was the rule in these college days. 
There was seldom anything to arouse and 
excite the men. Athletics were unknown on 
23 



THE WARDEN 

river or on field. The cane-struggle had not 
yet been born. There were the youthful fol- 
lies, but we fail to find Robert connected 
with one. He was in all senses sober-minded. 
He was busied with his books and his coun- 
try walks. As we said, he graduated first in 
his class, and soon we find him in New York 
in the General Seminary. And there his 
former history repeats itself. We see him 
appointed to read the service in St. Philip's 
Church. We hear of earnest work and suc- 
cess. Here, again, is the witty friend, "the 
poet" now as he is called. With him it 
is still the laugh in work and play. He 
continues his odd and artificial career. He 
carries it with him into after life. For a time 
the parish priest — we might say the ephem- 
eral parish priest — he travels east and west 
and south. Stability has no charm for him, 
and after a varied and unsuccessful course he 
appears, by chance, a trainer of the youth. 
These latter were not long in discovering his 
anomalous venture, nor did they stay its un- 
24 



COLLEGE DAYS 

toward end. Numerous relics of his able 
work exist to-day, though they are darkened 
and well-nigh forgotten. Life appeared to 
him a grand hurrah, and so he strove to make 
it. But he " reckoned without his host," 
and hence the end. 



25 



CLERGYMAN AND PARISH 
PRIEST, SCHOOL TEACHER, 
MISSIONARY AND CHAPLAIN 




Ill 



THE CLERGYMAN AND PARISH PRIEST, 
SCHOOL TEACHER, MISSIONARY, 
AND CHAPLAIN 



J HE collegiate and seminary course 
completed, Robert Fairbairn was duly 
ordained a minister of the Gospel. We 
have glanced at his career as the boy, 
the youth, and the student. We have 
been impressed with his manliness, his deter- 
mination, and his industry. He started out 
with very clear views of what he desired to 
accomplish, and made use of the means at 
hand to carry it out. This he did with sin- 
cerity, zeal, and straightforwardness, and with 
ever present and implicit faith in God. That 
was his character in the dormitory and in the 
class-room, in the daily walk and in recrea- 
tion. He was a genuine man, the afFec- 
29 



THE WARDEN 



tionate friend, showing these qualities in his 
voice, his works, and the hospitable act, and 
surrounded himself by a host of sincere, af- 
fectionate, and respecting friends as a result. 
We find him in charge of his first parish 

in that beautiful and 
refined little city, 
Troy, N. Y. This 
was in 1843. The 
church placed under 
his care was a strug- 
gling one. It was 
heavily involved in 
debt. But before he 
left it this encum- 
brance was removed. 
Through his efforts 
the obligations were 
met and the property 
saved. 
It was here that he formed that close and 
enduring friendship with the Rev. John Ire- 
land Tucker. It was here that he was 
30 




John Ireland Tucker, D.D. 



CLERGYMAN AND PRIEST 

brought into close communion with many, 
afterward prominent in the work to which 
he had devoted himself. Around the hos- 
pitable board of that saintly woman, Mrs. 
Mary Warren, we find the frequent gather- 
ing of these able men. She did much to 
form a social life unique for its refinement 
and elevating influence. She afforded great 
privileges to one on the threshold of his 
career, and they left their mark. Mr. Fair- 
bairn and his friend Dr. Tucker were dis- 
tinguished for their courtesy on all occa- 
sions. Their associations, which continually 
fostered an innate sense of propriety, well 
explained this reputation. They were dis- 
tinguished for their intellectual attainments, 
and the habit of regular daily study con- 
tinually added to these. They were men 
of faith, vigorous faith, exemplyfying in 
their own lives the lessons they taught 
others. They were not guilty of that incon- 
gruity which is at times manifest in the life 
of a teacher : a lack of the lively faith and 
31 



THE WARDEN 

the spiritual character and moral culture 
which he inculcates in the disciple. They 
were in no sense worldly men ; but became 
broad-minded men, by avoiding the narrow- 
ness so frequently complained of and by 
keeping themselves in contact with the ques- 
tions and men of the day. They, by study- 
ing human nature, were convinced that the 
ministry was the appointed medium for the 
moral and spiritual welfare of men. They 
watched the members of their flock, they 
prayed with them, and put influences in their 
way to direct them, dropped the "word in 
season," encouraged them, consoled them in 
trouble, administered to them in want, res- 
cued them from temptation, and were at the 
bedside to point to the dying the only stay 
of the soul. They were faithful servants of 
their Master. 

It was at this time that Mr. Fairbairn met 

Miss Juliet Arnold, and to her he was united 

in Holy Matrimony by his friend Dr. Tucker. 

The story of this union, which extended 

32 



CLERGYMAN AND PRIEST 

over forty-four years, is one of most tender 
and loving devotion. It well portrayed the 
character of the man. The comfort and hap- 
piness of his wife were to him the first consid- 
eration, and when in later life the cruel hand 
of disease deprived her of speech, and even 
power to write, the manifestations of his love 
increased, if that were possible. He was at 
her side at early morn, at noonday, and at 
close of day. The call of duty alone re- 
moved him from her. The endearing letter 
and frequent message would then be sent, 
and when the final call did come he was 
bent in an agony of grief. The same sincer- 
ity which was manifested to the world at large 
in all his walks was more than apparent in 
his family life. His was the tender heart, 
the unselfish devotion. 

Two other parishes received his ministra- 
tions, one in the little town of Stillwater 
and the other in Providence, R. I. His 
work in each was with success; but his 
study and reading and the offer of professor- 

33 



THE WARDEN 

ship were fast making known to him a more 
natural fitness for educational rather than for 
general parish work. It was his desire to 
combine the two, and very shortly the oppor- 
tunity presented itself. He became the prin- 
cipal of the Catskill Academy, at Catskill- 
on-the-Hudson, to which work he devoted 
himself during a portion of the week, the 
remainder of the time being occupied with 
missionary operations in Cairo, some miles 
distant and in the surrounding country. 

For ten years he filled these positions. 
They involved the expenditure of much 
strength; but they developed and made 
known his power as a teacher and man of 
God. 

The regular Sunday trips in the one-horse 
vehicle over a long and rough country road 
to the quaint old church among the hills are 
vivid recollections of my early youth. In 
the summer months they were very pleasant, 
leading us through the leafy forest filled 
with birds. Often did we pause to watch the 

34 



CLERGYMAN AND PRIEST 

red-breasted robin, for which I was taught 
especial veneration, and to gather the violet 
and the daisy for those at home. There was 
some sentiment in the mathematician's breast, 
and there was need for it, as there was little 
to be found in this particular work. The 
meeting-house, where assembled the rural 
flock, was one of those square, cold, barn-like 
places. It was the rule to place me in the 
last pew, with the admonition to keep quiet, 
and I sat and gazed with wonderment at the 
swallow-nest throne perched half way up on 
the opposite wall. It was to me the great 
attraction of the service to see my reverend 
parent there appear as if by magic. He en- 
tered through a private door to which a stair- 
case led from an adjoining room. The robes, 
the solemnity, and the inexplicable and sud- 
den entrance through the wall, as it were, 
impressed me greatly. 

At times we would go to the neighboring 
school-houses, situated among the wooded 
hills near by, where a hearty missionary ser- 
35 



THE WARDEN 

vice would be held. I can recollect the ter- 
ror caused me on an August Sunday by a 
command from the pulpit to drive the cows 
away, as they approached too closely the 
open window while the sermon was in prog- 
ress. I wondered why cow-bells were made 
to torment. 

The winter, with its snow-drifts and bitter 
mountain gales, did not deter this pastoral 
work. It went on with clock-work regular- 
ity. It was a work of love, no incentive but 
that was offered. The results in after years 
were to him a great reward. The established 
parish, with pastor and pretty little church, 
lives to-day as a monument, or a sequel 
rather. 

I overheard, as children often do, a quiet 
conversation, not intended for others' ears, 
which took place between an over-awing 
Bishop and this faithful missionary. They 
said much of soul and spirit and human nat- 
ure generally. They discoursed, with great 
accord, on the difficulty of close communion 
36 



CLERGYMAN AND PRIEST 

with the latter as it was found in these far-off 
places. Monosyllabic was the word used to 
describe the prevailing method of parlance 
between the mountaineers and them. And 
to-day, when remembrance comes with better 
understanding, I can scarcely wonder at the 
timidity thus depicted, nor am I surprised at 
the greatness of the task as they then pictured 
it. The gulf of reverence, respect, and vener- 
ation which was fixed between them and their 
flock did not invite familiar conversation. 
Their lines of thought were widely separated. 
To cross this gulf was the anxious problem 
presented. And had the good, plain people 
heard the conversation and the solicitude ex- 
pressed with freedom as to their well-being, 
the gulf would have been crossed. Were it 
realized by the community at large that the 
time and the talents and the thoughts of 
Bishops and Clergy are devoted to them and 
their interests alone, how close would be the 
bond between them ! They are men with 
passions and natures like unto our own. We 

37 



THE WARDEN 

must not, we ought not to look for perfection 
in their daily life. We look for superiority 
and we find it, with few exceptions. Their 
daily study is the holy life, to bring men up 
to a high standard of virtue and holiness. 
The world is the better for their work. They 
are our benefactors and our friends and we 
should love and cultivate them. 

To the instructor of the youth came prom- 
inence and high position in the town. He 
was known as a strict disciplinarian and 
a profound mathematician. His scholars 
vowed that he solved problems in his sleep. 
He acknowledged this experience on one oc- 
casion when, having expended much time 
over an intricate piece of work, he retired in 
disgust. In the early morning hours, after a 
troubled sleep, he awoke with the work ac- 
complished and clearly before his mind, and 
the next day he presented to his astonished 
class the solution. They had come with 
brains wearied by the problem, and with the 
avowal that it was impossible to solve it. 

33 



CLERGYMAN AND PRIEST 

He never heard the last of this achieve- 
ment. 

Here lived the eminent artists Cole and 
Church, who added much sweetness to the 
life of all. The accomplished daughters 
and son of the former attended the Acad- 
emy, and later on the son completed his 
education at St. Stephen's College when 
Mr. Fairbairn was in charge. The inti- 
mate relations thus established were con- 
tinued thereafter, and were productive of 
much delight. 

In 1854 the principal and missionary was 
appointed Chaplain of the Twenty-eighth 
Regiment in the Twelfth Brigade, Third 
Division, of the New York Militia, en- 
tering on these duties with considerable 
enthusiasm. He became a hero when, on 
the occasion of a parade in Kingston, N. Y., 
he was given a fractious mount. In ascend- 
ing the steep hill of that town the animal 
fought for the mastery and attempted to 
throw his rider, to the consternation and 
39 



THE WARDEN 

concern of the officers. The determined 
Scotchman kept his saddle until the animal, 
wild with rage, rearing, lost his balance and 
tumbled over backward. Death to the horse 
and a few bruises to the rider were the re- 
sults. His influence thereafter was far from 
small. 

We are told of a chance reputation gained 
for accurate marksmanship. The staff were 
engaged in cannon practice on the mountain- 
side. The chaplain, urged on by repeated 
requests, aimed the gun at a mark he was 
too near-sighted to see. When his effort was 
announced "the best," the call to a second 
trial was made. The attempt was never re- 
peated and his record stood in face of laugh- 
ing protest. 

Much more of delightful friends and pleas- 
ant experiences in the daily life might be re- 
peated here. They would go to emphasize 
the character already told. The friend in 
Troy, Dr. Tucker, had not ceased to watch 
and correspond with and visit his firm friend. 
40 



CLERGYMAN AND PRIEST 

It was through him that, finally, the call to a 
professorship in a churchly institution came. 
He was the good spirit who brought the op- 
portunity for the distinguished career which 
followed. 



41 



PROFESSOR 




IV 

PROFESSOR 

the eastern 
bank of the 
Hudson, about 
one-half mile 
in a straight 
line from the 
river, is an in- 
teresting and 
important institution of learning. It is re- 
mote from the centres of activity. Ninety- 
four miles will about measure its distance 
from New York City, and fifty that from 
Albany. It rests among wooded hills and 
grassy dales. Nature has surrounded it with 
her most picturesque charms. It stands al- 
most literally alone. Near by an occasional 
dwelling rears its head among the trees, the 

45 



THE WARDEN 

humble habitation of farmer or mechanic. 
With the exception of a small settlement, 
a half mile distant, so small as scarcely to 
deserve the name of village, we find few 
marks of human habitation. There are out- 
lying towns at different points of the compass, 
five in all. They daily send in their emis- 
saries from the abattoir and other establish- 
ments necessary to the well-being of the 
inner and outer man, and so keep up a 
semblance, at least, of active communica- 
tion between this seat of learning and the 
outer world. 

The great natural beauty and healthfulness 
of the Hudson River Valley, in this immedi- 
ate vicinity, for years past have attracted the 
attention of the retired merchant and the man 
of means as an abiding-place. The names 
of Bard, Bartlett, Aspinwall, Sands, Cruger, 
Barton, are identified — by their bearers' long 
residence, their extensive manors, each under 
high cultivation ; their lofty character, their 
generosity — with this rural spot called An- 

46 



PROFESSOR 



I 



* 



nandale, the real nucleus of which is the seat 
of learning, St. Stephen's College. 

Mr. John Bard and his wife, Margaret 
Johnstone Bard, were the first active agents 
in the establish- 
ment of this insti- 
tution. They be- 
came such by the 
request of Bishop 
Wainwright in 
1853. He nac * 
heard of the benev- 
olence, the philan- 
thropy, the spiritu- 
ality of these god- 
ly people. They 
had made their 
home near by on 
an extensive and 

highly ornate estate, and had built a beautiful 
church, a Gothic gem of stone and oak and a 
parish school-house for the children of the 
neighborhood. The Rev. George F. Sey- 
47 





Mr. John Bard. 



THE WARDEN 

mour was called to be the Rector, and the name 
Church of the Holy Innocents was given to 
the chapel Mr. Seymour suggested that 
the chapel might be made the nucleus of a 
training-school for the ministry, a request for 
which had been made first by Bishop Wain- 
wright and afterward by Bishop Horatio 
Potter, who stated, in an address to the Dio- 
cesan Convention of 1856, that it was one 
of the urgent needs of the Diocese. 

We might follow the early history of the 
institution with interest, but will content 
ourselves here with a simple reference to 
its inception and leave the detail for a fut- 
ure note. 

At first, there were six scholars under the 
careful tutelage of that godly man, the Rev. 
George F. Seymour, now Bishop of Spring- 
field, 111. Mr. Bard was the most liberal 
patron of the school. The Society for the 
Promotion of Religion and Learning ap- 
pears at this early date with a liberal appro- 
priation for the support of the six scholars. 

48 



PROFESSOR 



Then fell what at the time appeared to 
be a crushing blow to the institution on 
the threshold of its existence, the burning 
of the beautiful 
chapel. 

Its recovery 
from the disaster 
was rapid, and in- 
terest in its welfare 
was renewed. Mr. 
Bard, with more 
than generosity, re- 
built the beautiful 
and now historic 
chapel ; and the 
society, before 
named, increased 
its appropriation, 

and so the history runs. The number of 
students increased to twelve, although the 
rectory and janitor's house afforded their only 
accommodation. The real estate and chapel 
were conveyed to the institution by Mr. Bard 

49 




Mrs. Margaret Johnstone Bard. 



THE WARDEN 



and a charter was obtained by the Hon. 
John V. L. Pruyn, LL.D., declaring "the 
Trustees of St. Stephen's College " to be a 
body corporate. This important undertak- 
ing was accom- 
plished in the year 
i860. Mr. Sey- 
mour was given 
the title of War- 
den, the English 
name for a college 
head. 

Then followed 
the building of the 
South wing, in 
1861, the resigna- 
tion of Mr. Sey- 
mour and the ap- 
pointment, in his 
stead, of the Rev. Dr. Thomas Richey, M.A., 
now professor in the General Theological 
Seminary. Mr. John L. Aspinwall, a neigh- 
bor of Mr. Bard, a large-hearted Church- 

50 




Mr. John L. Aspinwall. 



PROFESSOR 

man, appears as a generous donor to the 
college. 

We have a very striking picture thus far 
of what the earnest words and support of a 
bishop can accomplish in educational work ; 
of what the active parish priest can do as a 
defender of the Faith; of what means for 
good the large-hearted layman can make of 
his wealth, his influence— in short, the talents 
with which he is endowed. 

It was at this period that the subject of 
our narrative appeared on the field, in the 
full vigor of manhood, ruddy and round; 
active and alert in body and mind. He 
had a task on hand in the process of moving 
from his old home, that epoch which is well 
calculated to develop the unfortunate charac- 
teristics of a man. But well we remember 
the active part he played in it; to this day 
we remember his jovial face as he sat in the 
steam-boat surrounded by his much-beloved 
wife and four children. After they were all 
embarked he went on a quiet and anxious 
51 



THE WARDEN 

search for the old cat, who was finally discov- 
ered struggling in a bag on one of the cush- 
ioned seats and delivered him into the hands 
of his son, then six years of age, with the 
mischievous admonition to keep him quiet — 
an occupation well calculated to busy both 
parties. 

The promptness and despatch with which 
this journey was accomplished astonish and 
amuse me when I think of it. After the 
night spent in the Catskill house, there were 
the hurried breakfast; the loading of the 
wagons with the impedimenta of a fair-sized 
family; the safe embarking, bag and bag- 
gage, on the little steam-boat, where delight 
was afforded by the carefully prepared lunch 
in the pretty little cabin, even Tom being 
allowed a dainty morsel in his unsteady state- 
room ; the arrival at a little country cot after 
a tiresome, though interesting, ride of a few 
miles along a well-built and goodly shaded 
road ; the college in the distance, as we passed 
along, bringing us all to our feet with the 

52 



PROFESSOR 

expectancy of youth ; the student with mor- 
tar-board and gown amused at the childish 
effervescence and the parental attempt to re- 
press it ; the awkward attempts of the good- 
hearted workmen to transport the piano, six 
or eight proud of the accomplishment of the 
task ; the final restoration of partial order out 
of chaos; the jovial spirit infused into the 
whole proceeding; the family prayer and the 
retirement to those ancient abominations, 
corded-beds, which had been fitted together 
and successfully strung by the mathematical 
planning of the head of the family, his posi- 
tion during this occupation reminding one of 
Abraham Lincoln, who, when he was visited 
by a prominent client just after moving into 
a new house, appeared coatless, bed-wrench 
in hand. 

The house was small and so were the 
means. It became necessary to devote part 
of the space to the work of the professor. 
A carpenter, with a board partition, solved 
this problem by fencing off a few feet from 

53 



THE WARDEN 

a large lower room. In this cold, cheerless, 
cramped work-shop the professor placed his 
little library and desk and proceeded to work 
without a murmur. And an enviable reputa- 
tion did he immediately carve out for him- 
self, becoming distinguished among his fel- 
lows and his pupils as a master of his art. 
He could teach. He understood his subject 
thoroughly. He had the rare faculty of 
being able to impart his knowledge to others. 
He was on hand promptly to fulfil his du- 
ties. He was always found in the chancel 
at the hour of divine service. He was ever 
ready to aid the student and give him advice 
— in other words, he was well equipped ; he 
was enthusiastic, persistent in his work, un- 
selfish. Regularity was a part of his nature ; 
he was a student ; he had learned the lesson 
of self-control. These are the qualities that 
made him a successful professor and a suc- 
cessful man. 

Warden Richey resigned his office in 1863 
and Professor Fairbairn succeeded him. The 

54 



PROFESSOR 

number of students at that time was eighteen. 
The course of study, as he found it, was such 
as to prepare a man for entering on the regu- 
lar theological course as offered at the Gen- 
eral Theological Seminary. We shall have 
to note changes in this particular hereafter, 
changes inaugurated by the suggestion of the 
professor and of which he was so uncompro- 
misingly in favor, and which he was so in- 
sistent in promulgating, not only here but 
elsewhere, that he came to be known as their 
champion. 



55 



THE WARDEN: HIS RELIGIOUS 
AND EDUCATIONAL VIEWS 



THE WARDEN : HIS RELIGIOUS AND EDUCA- 
TIONAL VIEWS 




_IHE subject of our 

narrative is now the 

full-fledged Warden, or 

I College President, on the 

opening of the academic 
year in September, 1863. The 
Rev. George B. Hopson was 
at this time appointed Professor of Latin and 
William I. Curry, Tutor. The former was 
prevented for a time from assuming his posi- 
tion. The latter was on the ocean trying 
to make port by that doubtful and dilatory 
method of conveyance, the sailing-vessel. 

Here was a problem presented for immedi- 
ate solution, which might reasonably cause 
anyone to falter : a college on hand and no 
59 



THE WARDEN 

one to do the teaching. But the situation was 
fairly met and accepted, and the Warden pro- 
ceeded to discharge the duties of the absen- 
tees. He taught all the classes. He did it 
cheerfully and without a murmur. He read 
the service and performed the duties of a 
Parish Priest. This condition of affairs con- 
tinued for several weeks. The class-room 
duty was difficult enough, but the prepara- 
tion for it occupied the afternoon and even- 
ing, sometimes way into early morning, and 
the physical' man came near giving away 
under the strain. He spoke often in after 
years of the joy brought by the arrival of Pro- 
fessor Hopson, another indomitable worker. 
They joined hands in the work and kept 
them firmly clasped, and faced this and many 
other questions until the time for all work 
ceased with the Warden. 

On All Saints' Day, which occurred that 
year on Sunday, the Warden, who also oc- 
cupied the position of Pastor of the Church, 

preached a sermon in which he expressed 
60 



HIS RELIGIOUS VIEWS 



his deliberate convictions on matters pertain- 
ing to the management of the church and 
College. It may be well to note some of 
them. They have a bearing on the future 
conduct of affairs. 
They may answer 
some of the inqui- 
ries which we have 
frequently heard 
concerning them. 
He said: "The 
College is recog- 
nized by the Con- 
vention of the Dio- 
cese as a Diocesan 
Institution. The 
Diocese has thus 
become responsible 
for it. . . . Now 

it appears to me to be very plain that 
the services of this church ought to corre- 
spond with those which are generally re- 
cognized in the Diocese. No individual 

61 




Bishop Horatio Potter. 



THE WARDEN 

peculiarities ought to be seen here. No 
usages or customs ought to be permitted 
which would debar any from officiating in it, 
or enjoying its services. I am happy to-day 
to say that I am not conscious of any such 
custom existing. It is my wish so to con- 
duct the services of this church that no stu- 
dent shall go from this College and exhibit 
liturgical or other eccentricities, which he 
will attribute to the teaching he received 
here. It entirely corresponds with my views 
to conduct the services as they are generally 
conducted in this Diocese." 

This was the bold and loyal position, 
couched in unmistakable terms, assumed in 
the very beginning of his career, and it was 
maintained until the end without the slight- 
est deviation and at times in the face of 
bitter factional criticism. His mathematical 
premise was that prescribed by the Rubric 
and those in authority in the Diocese, and on 
it he rested his teaching, preaching, and 

conduct of affairs. He had grave doubts 

62 



HIS RELIGIOUS VIEWS 

about a man who accepted public office in 
the Church or other religious bodies, and then 
used that office to ventilate views counter to 
their historic teachings and their prescribed 
usages. He compared him to one of similar 
character in the army of the nation and fre- 
quently regretted that the court-martial did 
not appear as a remedy for the ill-used trust. 
He stated in a letter to the Bishop, published 
in the seventies, " that a training college for 
the ministry is a college in which the minis- 
try is the great purpose which is kept before 
the mind. Its object is just as specific as 
that of West Point, or a School of Mines, 
or a Polytechnic School. The army creates 
an esprit de corps at West Point. No less 
certainly does the ministry create an esprit de 
corps at Annandale. 

"Again, not only must the religion of a 
clergyman be above suspicion, but his man- 
ners, his bearing, his culture must be that of 
a high-toned Christian gentleman. Gentle- 
ness and quietness ought to characterize his 
63 



THE WARDEN 

whole life. The noisy, boisterous, obtru- 
sive eccentric clergyman is a public nuisance. 
He is not an example. He does not attract; 
he repels. A training college for the minis- 
try ought to do for the Church what West 
Point has so justly the credit of doing for 
the army : make gentlemen." 

And this was the loyal spirit infused into 
St. Stephen's boys. This is the spirit which 
has made them strong and a power in the 
land. This was the fulfilment of the idea on 
which the institution was founded, to train 
young men who were to become the " Stew- 
ards of the Mysteries." We shall have oc- 
casion to note the growth and prevalence of 
this sentiment as we accompany the Warden 
through his successful and faithful steward- 
ship. It was his daily teaching in doctrine 
that there was no place for the so-called " orig- 
inal investigator," who followed the craze of 
the day, in the religious domain, and sought 
the change in Liturgy. All honor was given to 
the latter in his proper sphere, the scientific. 
6 4 




o 



HIS RELIGIOUS VIEWS 

So much for the religious teaching which 
was evolved by the weekly pastoral discourse 
and the daily admonition. A word now as 
to the educational question. 

The advent of the Warden marked the 
adoption of a regular systematic course of 
study, extending over four years, with two 
years .of preparation. It was the same logi- 
cal basis and mathematical premise here at 
the foundation of the work that we find in 
all the Warden's undertakings. He always 
had a reason for the faith that was in him, 
and could always state the end in view. He 
maintained that the education of a clergy- 
man must rest chiefly on classical training; 
that a theological education without a knowl- 
edge of the two learned languages was almost 
an impossibility. He saw that the demands 
of the day for a practical college education 
had so far changed the course in most institu- 
tions that this work could hardly be done in 
any but such as is particularly devoted to 
this purpose. We find, therefore, the course 

67 



THE WARDEN 

of study laid out accordingly. First came 
the classics, then mathematics, then history 
and literature and modern languages, then 
moral and metaphysical philosophy. The 
specimens of mathematics were those of pure 
logic, such as Geometry and its application 
to Conic sections and Physics, the study of 
the latter leading up to the logical training 
required by a liberally educated man. It was 
the liberal education aimed at, that which fits 
a man to take his place for the first time 
among men and to begin to perform the 
duties which devolve upon him as a member 
of the body politic ; to render him capable of 
choosing his profession and of devoting his 
mind and thoughts to some one line of action. 
The balancing of the powers of the mind, and 
the developing of them in relation to each 
other in such a way that narrowness in any 
department, calling, or profession would be 
avoided, was the end kept in view. There 
was and is no place in such a course for pro- 
fessional education. During the develop- 

68 



HIS RELIGIOUS VIEWS 

mental period there is no place for super- 
structure building. The foundation work, the 
balancing process of the powers of the mind 
by language, mathematics, logic, philosophy, 
literature will occupy the workman in his un- 
dertaking. He knows the hard man, the hard 
views of life which result from exclusive study 
of the natural sciences by an unbalanced mind, 
and he will not jeopardize the beauty of his 
work by such untimely venture. He knows 
the untoward fate of nations which in the past 
have educated the general mind to take one 
view of a subject, and that a peculiar view. 
With apprehension, we see some such vent- 
ures in the modern system of education. " It 
is at best," as has been well said, " instruction 
only. There is no training, no thoughtfulness, 
no inward digestion, no growth in it. It pro- 
motes, perhaps, diffusion of knowledge, spread- 
ing it very thin; but forms neither students 
nor men who may deepen the well of truth 
and fetch back fresh supplies of wisdom." 
We remember the lament in his latter days 
6 9 



THE WARDEN 

of an eminent lawyer and statesman that he 
had been debarred in his youth from a thor- 
ough classical course. He said he was han- 
dicapped when he came in contact with men 
who had been thus equipped. He regarded 
it as a great drawback in his career that he 
had been allowed to pursue the so-called elec- 
tive course of study. And we exclaim with 
him at the absurdity of allowing a callow 
stripling to choose his method of mental dis- 
cipline, and that greater absurdity into which 
we appear to be drifting, of placing the moral 
discipline in the students' hands. It must 
bring to the mind of the skilled educator 
of the old school the same astonishment as 
choice or prescription of treatment by the 
invalid to the skilled physician. We would 
expect the exit of the first to follow as surely 
as that of the latter. 

We want to say of the course of study pur- 
sued at St. Stephen's that it is admirably 
adapted to thorough mental and moral culti- 
vation. The positions of distinction occupied 
. 70 



HIS RELIGIOUS VIEWS 

by its graduates offer proof of this. In a 
course of study subsequently followed in two 
universities and during a score of years of 
intimate acquaintance with the under-gradu- 
ates and graduates of many institutions of 
learning, we have failed to meet evidence 
of better or more thorough work than that 
done at Annandale. The intimate relation 
existing there between the young men and 
the Faculty, in their studies and in their daily 
life, beget an enthusiasm which cannot be 
found in a large university. That enthusi- 
asm was reflected in the results, the greatest 
of which was well-trained men. We have 
heard, with indignation and a pang of grief, 
slighting remarks about this little seminary 
of learning ; we have been amazed at the 
effrontery of certain heads of colleges and 
certain public sheets in their attempts to be- 
little it in the face of defeat of other institu- 
tions' best graduates in public literary contests 
with St. Stephen's boys. We commend to 
them an example which they may study with 
71 



THE WARDEN 

profit. We commend to their deliberation 
the words of a distinguished educator who 
writes in 1891 to the Warden, "Let me take 
this occasion to express to you my sincere 
sympathy with you in your steadfast main- 
tenance of an institution for collegiate train- 
ing in the true sense of that often misunder- 
stood title. You are captivated neither by 
University notions, nor by superficial scientific 
courses, nor by free and easy elective studies 
that flatter only to betray." 

At a meeting of distinguished men, com- 
posed of Bishops, Clergy, and Laymen, the 
Warden was once impelled to an impromptu 
address. The subject before the house was 
Liturgical Growth. The expressions used by 
some speakers on that occasion caused ap- 
prehension. They called for an answer, so 
thought the Warden and some of his friends, 
and he arose as the spokesman. He began 
by saying, " I shall probably take a little dif- 
ferent view of the question from those who 
have preceded me. Except in the case of the 

72 






HIS RELIGIOUS VIEWS 

first speaker, the whole line of thought to- 
night has been the change of the Liturgy." 
He then went on to give a history of the 
Liturgy, what it was and is and how it origi- 
nated. The historical data, poured forth with 
great rapidity, astonished his audience and put 
an end to a discussion which, he showed with 
telling logic, was very vague. That the great 
Liturgical idea ought to be that of unity, that 
of history, he maintained. And he asked, 
with great earnestness, what other explanation 
could be given of the similarity of the four 
great Liturgies, used in four different churches 
so widely separated as they, than that they 
came from the Apostles, who settled what the 
Liturgy should be before they were dispersed. 
To talk of our prayers or exhortations or other 
matters, and leave out the four Liturgies, 
was unworthy of the name Liturgical Dis- 
cussion. And if change in the Liturgy was 
proposed such change must be made as in the 
Primitive Church, to set forward more clearly, 
more emphatically, more without doubt, that 

73 



THE WARDEN 

great idea of Christ's sacrifice for the sins of 
the world and the commemoration of it by the 
Church before the Father. His words were 
received with great favor. They illustrated 
his exact method of thought and his loyalty 
to the principles he had undertaken to defend. 
On another similar occasion we find him 
addressing the assembly in defence of the 
Prayer-book, the Bishops — the Princes of the 
Church, as he called them — and his Alma 
Mater, the General Theological Seminary. 
They had all come in for their share of criti- 
cism in the warm discussion which had pre- 
ceded. He exclaimed, that one would be in- 
clined to think from what he had heard that 
the defects which had been depicted were 
characteristics. It was the tendency, at times, 
for a pessimistic view to predominate with 
regard to a subject in hand. He then went 
on to show that the defects which had been 
dwelt on were really only imperfections which 
detracted very little from the character of the 
subjects named, and so proceeded his masterly 

74 



HIS RELIGIOUS VIEWS 

defence. He reminded them that the institu- 
tion of learning in question had demonstrated 
its ability to do the best work, by sending out 
into the world sixteen or more bishops and a 
large portion of the clergy whom they so re- 
spected and loved. These latter had shown 
that they could meet the questions of the day 
and could sympathize with every human 
want. He then took up the subject of gen- 
eral education and argued that the divinity 
student, as the seeker after knowledge in the 
other professional departments, should first 
receive a thorough intellectual development 
and training, and that this was a very neces- 
sary preliminary measure, as the lamentable 
failures without it often proved. 

The results of his labors as Warden and as a 
Christian educator were very gratifying to the 
Bishop, the prominent Clergy and Laymen of 
the Church and his associates in the College. 
They united to give expression to their grati- 
tude at a Commencement dinner. They 
overwhelmed him by addresses of commen- 

75 



THE WARDEN 

elation signed by the Faculty, Trustees, and 
many others ; and, not satisfied with this, they 
heaped upon him rich and bountiful gifts. 
All this served to make him more zealous. 
He never lost sight of the welfare of the 
work entrusted to him. 

We hear much to-day about the " swelled 
head." The ancients described this condition 
by various expressions. It is a disease which 
has existed from time immemorial. The 
causes conducive to it are extraordinary suc- 
cess and, at times, the too free acknowledg- 
ment of the same. But, like other causes, 
they do not always produce the same results. 
As a seed they must have the proper soil to 
grow in in order to flourish. The causes 
under consideration, brought to bear on a 
mind not well balanced, schooled to a narrow 
view of life, produce an inordinate estimate 
of self — the " swelling " of the latter to such 
an extent as to blot out all else. Examples 
of the truth of this statement are numer- 
ous. The blighting of the promising plant, 

76 



HIS RELIGIOUS VIEWS 

when it has attained great beauty, by too 
lavish care is not a thing unknown. We 
have no such story to tell here. The success 
and its universal praise, served only to point 
out to this modest worker that much more 
remained to be done. He perceived his own 
imperfections and the incompleteness of the 
work, and he labored on, encouraged by what 
had happened. His estimate of himself was 
that he was simply a part of the means which 
were to be employed. He was unobtrusive. 
He had the simplicity of a child. He was 
earnest and whole souled. 

The students of the College were not long 
in discovering these qualities, and were closely 
drawn to him. That he held their sincere 
affection, their numerous testimonials bear 
witness. We are told that an unkind word 
about the Warden was rarely heard even in 
their private conversation. 

The Alumni visited him frequently and 
sent him many letters expressive of gratitude 
for his care, and well they might, for he 

77 



THE WARDEN 

watched them as a father watches his sons. 
Their success was to him a cause of joy. 

The royal token, the beautiful loving-cup, 
which they united to present to him in his 
latter days was the offering from loving hearts 
to a heart of love. It will be cherished and 
preserved as a most blessed possession. 



78 



POSITION IN THE COMMUNITY. 
THE COMPANION AND PASTOR 



VI 



POSITION IN THE COMMUNITY. THE COM- 
PANION AND PASTOR 




HAT is this 
we see. this 
winter's af- 
ternooD : the 
r d or farm- 
_ ns, the vehi- 
peculiar to 
a country town; in the distance a hea: ; - with 
its >ntents undisturbed; the farmer, the work- 
man, the tavern-lounger in his best attire, all 
gathered around the pretty little College 
Chapel"? Certainly, it is a very large and 
very mixed gathering tor this place. -Tell 
us. rriend." we ask an honest plodder of the 
soil. - what means this gathering at mid- 
lay?" "Funeral." is the characteristic an- 



- : 



THE WARDEN 

swer. " But tell us, why has not the coffin 
been removed ? Why are they not prepar- 
ing to take it into the church ? Surely some- 
thing must be strange." " Yer right; the 
old feller in yonder box killed himself, he 
took pizen; and they tell us that this church 
has no service for such poor critters. We 
come to our dear old friend Dr. Fairbairn, 
and he told us to bring to him the livin' 
and he would pray with 'em, and preach to 
'em, and do as he's always ready to do, try 
to console 'em. He's a regular, all the 
same, he's loyal to his Church, and he tells 
us to leave any of the fixin's about that 'ere 
body out of the question as far as this here 
church is concerned. We are here to see 
and pray with our friend ; here he comes, the 
dear old man ! " 

Our conversation was cut short by the ap- 
pearance of the Warden, and as he passed 
along to the vestry in cap and gown we were 
struck by his scholastic air. All hats were 
lifted, and in return was the dignified bow 
82 



POSITION IN COMMUNITY 

and earnest greeting. The bond of sympa- 
thy between pastor and assemblage was at 
once apparent and as the bell tolled its 
solemn notes the crowd entered the sacred 
edifice and we among them, attracted by the 
peculiarities of the occasion. The faithful 
students were there; the organist was on 
hand; the Warden had kept his promise 
and was prepared to offer religious consola- 
tion suitable to the case. There was a sim- 
ple, hearty service. There were the chanted 
psalm by male choir and the old-fashioned 
hymn with its familiar tune, which all with 
one accord sang. There were the appropriate 
prayers and chapter from the New Testa- 
ment, read with becoming impressiveness and 
striking correctness and emphasis. There was 
a pause ; the Warden came to the chancel 
steps and stood for a moment. His silence, 
his look of earnestness were eloquent. He 
was about to utter God's message to some 
wayward beings who rarely, if ever, afforded 
him that opportunity. This day they were 
83 



THE WARDEN 

willing listeners. They had asked for some 
comforting word and they knew it would be 
forthcoming. "Faith" is the subject an- 
nounced in emphatic voice and with eloquent 
and characteristic projection of the head. 
44 Probably no word which is peculiar to the 
Christian religion conveys a less definite no- 
tion than this word 'Faith,'" are the first 
words of the preacher. And so he proceeded, 
in a simple and direct manner, to discourse on a 
subject deep and abstract in fact, but so clear- 
ly that his audience followed him with atten- 
tive and thankful hearts. We lost sight of 
the sorrow of the occasion. We joined with 
the preacher in our praises to Almighty God 
that He had vouchsafed to us His Beloved 
Son. And as we moved among the retiring 
band, we silently joined in the expression 
heard from many a tongue, that it was a les- 
son of Faith from a man of faith. Such was 
his position among the commoners. It was 
more. The petition signed for public action 
was brought to him first, with the surety that 
84 



POSITION IN COMMUNITY 

his name would be followed by almost unani- 
mous approval. He was not only the man 
of Faith, but the man of Action. His daily 
life was to these people the same earnest les- 
son as his pastoral discourse and weekly 
teaching. 

There dwelt near by him, in the midst or a 
well-tilled farm, a gentleman, a man of char- 
acter, benevolence, and kindly nature. He 
was the Warden's landlord, and he was his 
admiring friend. His nature shone forth in 
his handsome visage. His towering and 
powerful frame depicted the sturdy man of 
affairs. There sprang up between these 
neighbors a steadfast friendship, and that 
friendship was bound the closer by ties which 
developed, as years ran along, between their 
respective families. The sons, of an age, 
played together, went to school and college 
and church together, and after their paths 
were separated for a time during their profes- 
sional studies, they settled in the same city 
and there reared their families. Not a cloud 
85 



THE WARDEN 

or shadow has ever darkened their compan- 
ionship and they, as their fathers, still cherish 
an abiding affection for one another. We 
note this circumstance with the joyous tear. 
We note the debt of gratitude we owe this 
noble man, John N. Lewis, Esq., and his ac- 
complished wife and manly sons, for the sun- 
shine they have spread about the Warden's 
path and that of his family. No opportunity 
was lost by these good friends to further his 
welfare and to give public expression to an 
affection which was and is firm and true. 

And what shall we say of the loving friend- 
ship of Mr. and Mrs. John Bard and Mr. 
and Mrs. J. L. Aspinwall and Mr. and Mrs. 
E. Bartlett and Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Sands 
and the Misses Hunt and Dr. Hunt and his 
family and Mr. and Mrs. John Cruger and 
after them Colonel Cruger and his sisters and a 
host of others of whom time forbids men- 
tion? They received the Warden into their 
confidence ; they feasted him ; they loaded 
him down with generous gifts; they bowed to 

86 



POSITION IN COMMUNITY 

him as their spiritual and, at times, temporal 
adviser in important matters. In public dis- 
course the Warden described this social life 
as distinguished for its propriety, its purity 
and its elevating influence. It drew together 
many, many persons whom it was a priv- 
ilege to meet. The General, the Statesman, 
the distinguished Divine, the Barrister, the 
Man of Letters might all be named, and what 
a celebrated coterie it would make ! 

We well remember the day when we gath- 
ered together, the whole community, young 
and old, in the College grove to do honor to 
Stephen Van Rensselaer Cruger, then a youth 
of tender years. We gave him a beautiful 
sword ; we gave him a hearty Godspeed on 
his mission to the Civil War in behalf of 
our country. We well remember how we 
watched him; read line by line and word for 
word his deeds of great bravery. We re- 
member also the shock of grief when he 
was returned to us severely wounded, and we 
note the joy and pride at his final recovery 

87 



THE WARDEN 

and departure for the front. Thereafter noth- 
ing but the news of heroism, great heroism 
and honor, came from him. A sturdy charac- 
ter and an accomplished gentleman, a brave 
soldier, a devout Christian, he served his 
country and his God. As a Trustee of the 
College, as Treasurer of that institution, as its 
unfailing friend and the cordial friend of the 
Warden, he departed this life with an envi- 
able record, enviable for its distinction and its 
purity. 

As we recall the unwritten history of An= 
nandale, we are overwhelmed with the mem- 
ory of the host of great men which crowds 
upon us. They were truly great. They 
were Christian men and men of character. 
We must pause for one word about that 
saintly man, Mr. Joseph Harrod. The 
Warden's eulogium on him is the true de- 
scription. u You see in him," he said, "a 
picture of old age which certainly excels 
anything that you read in Cicero of the old 
age of eminent Romans. In this case it 

88 



POSITION IN COMMUNITY 

was the grace of redemption; in them it was 
only the natural amiableness or determined 
will. His life was characterized by the pu- 
rity, the temperance, the fortitude, and the 
hope of the Gospel. Blessed be God for the 
good example of His servant ! " 

Annandale is a healthful place. Very little 
sickness is found within its limits. It occurs 
at times, and the necessity arises to send to 
the neighboring town for the physician. The 
College doctor was a famous old character 
who resided in a dainty little cottage in the 
town of Upper Red Hook. We call him 
famous, for so he was — from the distinguished 
services he had rendered to men of note and 
the graduates who have scattered all over the 
land. They carried his fame abroad as a 
man of remarkable judgment and diagnostic 
acumen. He was always quiet, deliberate, 
jovial, and tender as a woman in his kindly 
ministrations. The Warden had great faith 
in him, and that implied merit and fitness 

and reliability. 

8 9 



THE WARDEN 



The practice of medicine is well suited to 
round up a man's nature. The daily com- 
munion with the sweetness of the family life 
begets, as a rule, the tender heart and sym- 
pathetic spirit. 
The family doctor 
associates with the 
best of life, the 
affectionate mother 
and her tender, 
loving flock. He 
sees love displayed 
in its most pleasing 
form. He sees the 
sacrifices of com- 
fort and means that 
it calls forth. This 
is his daily, you 
may say almost 
hourly, experience. And such sunshine 
spreads its radiance over his nature and in 
turn nurtures the growth of similar qualities. 
There is no more delightful, no better man 
90 




John E. Losee, M.D. 






POSITION IN COMMUNITY 

than the medical practitioner, seasoned by 
age and experience. 

And such was our College friend, Dr. John 
E. Losee. And what a life of toil he must 
have led in that little buckboard and country 
sleigh ! The sleepless night invited slumber 
often on the weary journey, which the faithful 
horse made safe with watchful tread. The 
keen wintry blasts caused quadruplication of 
the ordinary great-coat. Often have we seen 
him occupy some minutes as he gradually 
wormed his way out of this enormous supply 
of covering. But it was always the same com- 
forting, smiling face that greeted us, though 
worn with many a care and broken rest. He 
it was who ministered to the Warden's little 
ones. He and his skilful son Edwin were 
they who watched the beloved wife in her 
years of painful illness. They brought all 
the material comfort that can come from such 
a source, and they gently closed the eyelids 
of daughter and wife in their final sleep. 
The remembrance of their skill, their gentle- 
91 



THE WARDEN 

ness, their manly support, sank deeply into 
the Warden's heart and, as he approached his 
end in a distant city, he spoke of these good 
men and longed to see them once again. 

Farewell for the time to these good 
friends ! Let as wend our way across the 
velvet campus to a palatial dwelling. It is 
a massive structure, square and low. It is 
builded of stone, with walls of great thickness. 
There juts out in bold relief a stately forte 
cochere, and one wonders, as he looks on this 
stately mass, arched on various sides, what 
prevents its fall. But what is this stone 
carved with inscription in the northwest cor- 
ner? Surely it is a unique adornment for a 
dwelling-house. It is a corner-stone which 
was laid with pomp and ceremony, we are 
told, some thirty years ago. It is the corner- 
stone of the Warden's residence, a memo- 
rial gift to St. Stephen's College by two 
saintly women, Miss Ludlow and her sister, 
Mrs. Willink ; and on the stony arch 

which surmounts the main entrance we find 

92 



POSITION IN COMMUNITY 

inscribed, by carver's chisel, " Ludlow and 
Willink Hall." Let us step within; we are 
beckoned to, though strangers, by a cordial 
personage attired in silken gown, with college 
cap in hand and suggestive volume beneath 
his arm. We call him Reverend and we call 
him Professor — the marks of both are on his 
striking face. At ease immediately, we pass 
within the open entrance-hall. We are told 
that its material was gathered from the do- 
nors' estate ; there are the polished floor, the 
high wainscoting, the screen of lofty arches 
supported by the grape and acorn and oak- 
leaf-capped pillars, the panelled ceilings with 
great oaken beams, which show the touch 
of the artist's hand, as the main supports. 
Through arched way, guarded by heavy 
doors, we pass into the Memorial Hall. Its 
wall is decked on the southerly end by a 
rounded window in which is the College seal 
in colored glass. Between the brackets which 
support the ceiling-beams are coats-of-arms of 
prominent families. An oaken gem of the 

93 



THE WARDEN 

carver's art surmounts the hearth. The por- 
traits of benefactors deck the walls. We ex- 
claim, " It is a reproduction of the old archi- 
tectural spirit ! " We are told it is for public 
reception and executive work of Trustees. 
A massive staircase of solid oak leads us, with 
our attentive guide, to top of house. Our as- 
tonishment, expressed at extent of room, is 
answered by the statement, " It is open house 
all the year round for the welcome guest, 
whene'er he come." No hotel, no resting- 
place for the transient, until of late, has here 
been found. And so it fell to the Warden 
and his good wife, and after her to his untir- 
ing daughter Alice, to play the part of genial 
host and hostess for this ever-appearing and 
numerous band. And many are the mothers 
who will bear witness that this means much 
in a country clime. They came from far and 
near. They came from foreign lands. They 
came at times for ecclesiastic ordeal — appli- 
cants to the good Bishops for reception into 
the Protestant Episcopal Church from other 
94 




u 



1 £ 

& > 

< < 






POSITION IN COMMUNITY 

lines of belief; and we are mindful this day 
of doctrinal debate carried on nightly, at 
times to fever heat ; and we bear witness to 
beneficial results arrived at from these many 
wanderings through various creeds. 

The Warden, with rapid step, leads us 
through the stony portal while he says, " Gen- 
tlemen, I am at leisure for a time and you 
must go with me to yonder library." He tells 
us, as we wend our way along the broad and 
level gravel path, that this was once rough 
rock, so high as to obscure Aspinwall Hall 
here on our right, and Preston Hall near by. 
There was a rocky mound, rough and high on 
yonder hill below, which with its velvet lawn 
now helps to form the campus. " With theo- 
dolite I laid out the work, and the local la- 
borer, with powder, drill, and chisel, made this 
broad plateau. You see upon it rest the four 
sections of the South wing, two named Hoff- 
man Hall, the gift of the Rev. C. F. Hoffman, 
and the two others called H. Potter and Mc- 
Vickar Hall. The blue stone of which they 

97 



THE WARDEN 

are made came from the opposite bank of the 
Hudson, and the trimmings are sandstone 
from Ohio. Back of these lies a wooden 
structure, and in it also are students' apart- 
ments and rooms for lecture purposes." 

As we continue on our way, the Warden 
tells us of the benevolence of the late Rev. Dr. 
Francis Vinton, a very distinguished divine, 
a rector of Grace Church, Brooklyn, and then 
clergyman in charge of Trinity Church, New 
York. He it was who directed Mrs. Wil- 
link's and Miss Ludlow's generous hearts to 
St. Stephen's. The Rev. Dr. C. F. Hoffman 
comes in for tender mention and eloquent 
eulogium. This generous scholar and loving 
friend and faithful brother, the Warden tells 
us, poured great bounty upon the God-like 
work. "He built us buildings; he endowed 
professorships ; he aided students and many 
others; he built this library, magnificent in 
proportions and architecture, and materials 
made proof against that dreaded enemy, fire, 
and, to complete the work, established and 



POSITION IN COMMUNITY 



endowed a lectureship on libraries." And as 
we stood within this beautiful temple of learn- 
ing, in appearance like unto the Parthenon, 
with its inner walls lined with gifts to the 
world by men of 
lore, we joined 
with our host in 
praises to Al- 
mighty God that 
He had given us 
such examples. 
And we thought 
that no better 
place existed for 
those to seek 
whose life had 
been made up of 
self-interest. The 
royal temple gift, 

its learned tenants, its peacefulness, its every 
quality stood a grand emblem of the Chris- 
tian life, and as we looked through its 
open portals we spied, near by, a little 

99 




Rev. Charles F. Hoffman, D.D. 



THE WARDEN 

round, red, globe-roofed structure perched 
upon an open hill. It was a peaceful com- 
panion where the nightly pilgrim studied 
the heavenly vault above. John Campbell, 
Esq., in the goodness of his heart, had placed 
this gift of value. In its work, in its perfect 
detail, in its end serene, it stood an appropriate 
partner. 

There is unusual life about the College this 
afternoon ; the flags are flying, there are many 
visitors, and fair ones are to be seen on all sides. 
They are decked with ribbons, some with 
blue and some with crimson. The Warden, 
after his courteous talk with his guest, has 
slipped away. Let us follow him. He surely 
must be in touch with this gala day. Ah ! 
here he is in his study, busily cleaning an 
aged telescope and putting an extra polish on 
a little glass, irreverently called by the boys 
the Warden's " fifth eye," as it comes fre- 
quently from the waistcoat pocket to aid the 
spectacles in their active work. " You per- 
ceive," he says, " that I am preparing to 



POSITION IN COMMUNITY 

watch the sport. The young gentlemen row 
their annual boat-race this afternoon. I have 
chosen a spot on a grassy cliff half way 
between the starting-point and the stake-boat, 
and there hope to have a field unobstructed 
by the trees. These lenses will make the 
whole course plain. Yonder cove, fenced off 
by the railroad, which wends its way along 
the Hudson's eastern bank, is the sheet of 
water used here for sport. My special inter- 
est in this day's contest is due to the presence 
of a family representative, who has the im- 
portant duty assigned to him of guarding the 
tiller-ropes of one of the racers. I am par- 
ticularly interested in the stake-boat turn. 
That will test his grit." So the good old 
gentleman, with tripod, glass, and cane, 
quietly passed down a hidden path to his 
chosen place. 

We can see him now, as he hurried along 
with perspiring brow and panting breath, 
caused by his unwieldy burden. But the 
spot was reached, the observation made, the 



THE WARDEN 

adjustments fixed and the pallid faces of the 
waiting crews were carefully scanned. He 
murmurs to himself, " It is dangerous sport ; 
it strains too much." The gun's first shot 
re-echoes through the hills, the faithful glass 
is fixed on the forms outstretched for the first 
stroke. In the middle of the glass's field is the 
anxious face of the beardless youth. Lucky 
for him and lucky for his victorious crew that 
he knew it not ! There is another puff of 
smoke, and the earnest work begins before the 
second echo reaches the Warden's ear. The 
struggle to the stake-boat is sharp and close 
and quickly over. With even prows they 
reach this half-way goal, and there the tele- 
scope with searching eye awaits results. The 
Warden's hat is off, and he gives a loud hur- 
rah as his son's boat rounds the telling point 
and sets the pace. But what has happened ? 
The ugly ivy vine has caught his foot and 
overthrown him. In his struggles to regain 
himself, the tripod and his inquisitive glass 
have shared his fate. While the first boat 



POSITION IN COMMUNITY 

around the stake has made her victory sure 
by half a length, the tripod, glass, and watcher 
have had a sorrowing search for one another. 
But they came together, and the Warden won 
and hastened steps at sound of Chapel bell. 
It was many a day before the escapade and 
disappointment were made known, and this 
was brought about by the fifth eye's journey 
in a finder's pocket back to its former resting- 
place. 



103 



AUTHOR AND SCHOLAR 



VII 

AUTHOR AND SCHOLAR 

LTHOUGH the War- 
den acted in many 
capacities in his 
work at Annan- 
dale, he f o'und 
time to read, to 
study, to think, and record his 
thoughts for the world out- 
side. We cannot understand 
how he did it. No one un- 
derstands it. He acted the 
part of pastor, professor, warden, steward, 
bookkeeper, banker, overseer of janitor and 
farm — in which latter capacity we hear many 
a joke at his expense — and to cap the cli- 
max, postmaster! That he did these all 
well we find frequent acknowledgment by 
107 




THE WARDEN 

the Board of Trustees. We quote the fol- 
lowing paragraph from many similar docu- 
ments : " It is difficult for us to find words 
wherewith to express our sense of the judg- 
ment, patience, kindness, energy, persever- 
ence, and self-devotion with which you have 
conducted the instruction, discipline, and 
general business of the College. We return 
you our warmest thanks," etc. 

He was a systematic worker. He had a 
well-balanced mind. He stood a good ex- 
ample of the method of education which he 
advocated. 

A rapid review of some of his literary work 
will be instructive and, perchance, of interest. 
Even this is no easy task. We submit it 
with the apology that it is gathered not only 
from a close and careful study of the matter 
in hand, but from frequent dissertations aris- 
ing during a companionship which extended 
over many years, and which to denominate 
intimate would be to use a very mild 
term. 

108 



AUTHOR AND SCHOLAR 

We take up his essays first. We have 
many of them. They were read before or- 
ganizations and societies devoted to various 
lines of thought. Their subjects are striking. 
They deal with the questions of the day, and 
are therefore of interest. The Warden never 
wrote for amusement. He was never guilty 
of twaddle. His great characteristics were 
earnestness and intensity of feeling, and all his 
writings reflect such characteristics. His au- 
dience learned that when he undertook to 
speak it was to tell them something. He 
gained the attentive listener. On one occa- 
sion, when he was about to deliver an address 
before an assemblage of distinguished men, I 
was moving among them as they entered the 
hall. I heard it remarked, by a man of judi- 
cial and learned mien, to his companions, 
"We will now hear some logic." That was 
the second characteristic, logical arrangement 
of thought, which was expressed in short and 
forcible form. The third characteristic was 
the statement of the conclusion. There was 
109 



THE WARDEN 

never any doubt in the listener's or reader's 
mind as to the lesson enforced. 

He was a very rapid writer and thinker. 
First he gathered together his ammunition 
and thoroughly digested it. The subsequent 
process of preparation of the charge and its 
delivery to the mark were accomplished with 
the ease of an adept in the art. His frequent 
admonition to the student's mind was: first 
your study and preparation and formation of 
clear views; then the expression of them. 
We might multiply examples of what we 
have said. We can attempt it in a few strik- 
ing instances only. 

" The Elisions to be Observed in Reading 
Latin Poetry " is the title of an essay read be- 
fore the University Regents' Convocation at 
Albany. It was written in answer to a foot- 
note in a Latin Grammar, viz. : " It is gen- 
erally supposed that the final letters elided by 
synalcepha and ecthlipsis, though omitted in 
scanning, were pronounced in reading verse." 
This general opinion, stated by the Gram- 
no 



AUTHOR AND SCHOLAR 

marian without adducing any statement of 
the ancients to sustain the opinion, aroused 
the logical mind. There was a tinge of 
Scotch wrath added by a student in the decla- 
mation-room, who cited the note in question 
in support of his omission to make the eli- 
sions in a Latin verse he had just repeated. 
After ominous silence of some minutes, 
heightened by the familiar reddening of the 
Warden's brow, " Such opinion is a fair sub- 
ject for an investigation," is announced with 
emphatic voice. 

In due time the investigation came, and in 
fitting place the result was read. A perfect 
avalanche of testimony, gathered from Eng- 
lish, Greek, Latin, French, German, Italian 
and Spanish verse, was produced in support 
of the argument that the custom suggested 
by the note would be barbarous. With great 
applause and commendation and agreement 
the learned audience greeted the climax to 
this severe analysis, when with closed manu- 
script and determined look the author said, 
in 



THE WARDEN 

" 1 think I can venture to say that had Bos- 
well read to him from the grammar in ques- 
tion that the final letters, 'omitted in scan- 
ning were pronounced in reading,' Johnson 
would immediately have given up the ghost 
and expired in disgust." 

Judge Hale, on that occasion, in the dis- 
cussion which followed, after loving words 
for the masterly exhibition of the logician's 
skill, expressed his amazement at the depth 
of research and the breadth of knowledge 
called forth by what would appear, to the 
casual reader, a commonplace remark. 

We take up next an essay which received 
distinguished consideration at the hands of 
the Dutchess County Convocation, and later 
the American Institute of Christian Philos- 
ophy. " A Logical Definition of Christianity" 
is the subject. We agree with the letter from 
an eminent Divine and Educator which we 
find hidden among its leaves, placed therein 
some years ago by loving hands. He writes, 
" It is great, it is clear, it is an important con- 

112 



AUTHOR AND SCHOLAR 

tribution to the Christian religion. It should 
be distributed far and wide." In this essay, 
after noting that the study of comparative 
religions has been prosecuted with great vigor 
in late years, he remarks on the attempt made 
to identify them : to show that essentially they 
have a common origin. He maintains that 
such an attempt has arisen as a natural result 
of dwelling on the points of likeness, and 
laying them side by side. It is to meet this 
tendency, it is to give Christianity its in- 
dividual place, it is to put before the mind 
without a shade of doubt what distinguishes 
Christianity from all other religions, that this 
logical definition is undertaken. 

There can be no possible question in the 
reader's mind as to the difference between 
Christianity and Brahmanism, and Buddhism 
or many other isms, after the perusal of the 
facts collated here. He very quickly sees 
that the former religions are really not re- 
ligions at all, but only moral systems. No 
Deity, no Creator, no Governor, no Provi- 
113 



THE WARDEN 

dence is held up by them. They are the 
merest systems of Atheism. Again the reader 
sees that man's moral nature, with all the 
great virtues which stand out as cardinal, 
had their existence from the very beginning. 
They came out of the constitution which 
God gave man. They are not the results of 
Christianity. When people talk of Christian 
ethics and Christian morality they use unfair 
expressions — they imply that the system of 
moral life is the offspring of Christianity, and 
hence arises the error so often made : to mis- 
take it for Christianity itself. And so we are 
brought to the definition, to the statement of 
its essential characteristics, those which sep- 
arate it from all other things. He defines 
Christianity as a species of the genus religion 
with the differentia, that which separates it 
from all other things, that Jesus Christ is the 
incarnate Son of God, the Redeemer of the 
world, and the Source of grace, with the prop- 
erty, in common with other religions, that it 

presents a perfect morality, while the manner 
114 



AUTHOR AND SCHOLAR 

of its rendering homage to God is an accident. 
If then we find, as we often do to-day, per- 
sons so captivated by the beautiful morality 
of Buddhism or Confucianism as to ask us 
what then distinguishes Christianity from 
other religions, we can answer : that our Foun- 
der is God ; that He redeemed us and that He 
ever lives to sanctify us. We can say, with 
great certainty, that these are the two acts of 
Christ which make our religion, and make it 
to differ from every other religion. Redemp- 
tion and grace by Jesus Christ the Son of 
God are the essence of Christianity, and the 
other isms are as far removed from it as the 
opposite poles of the earth are removed from 
one another. 

The Church in this and other countries 
would do well to adopt such most certain 
language in place of those indefinite expres- 
sions with regard to the " Fatherhood " of God 
and the moral life so often heard. 

We find an essay on " The Law of La- 
bor and Capital." It was read before the 
115 



THE WARDEN 

American Institute of Christian Philoso- 
phy. 

Beginning with the statement that he had 
come prepared simply to express his opinions 
on the subject, he proceeds to argue the ques- 
tion. The sentiments and opinions elicited 
by the Senate Committee in 1883 and those 
gathered from his intercourse with men and 
books are made the basis of his argument. 
The position of the laborer of to-day is de- 
scribed as far superior to that in any earlier 
period, because he has a larger share of the 
comforts of life, and, being more intelligent, 
is more capable of enjoying them. The 
moral and mechanical forces which are in op- 
eration to-day have brought the world more 
to a level, he tells us, and the workman is 
recognized as an independent man, who has 
dignity and an importance in society. Hav- 
ing defined the workman's position in society, 
he proceeds to state with great clearness that 
all its operations are according to law. The 
degradations of poverty, accumulation of 
116 



AUTHOR AND SCHOLAR 

wealth, trade in its supply and demand, labor 
and capital in their various relations, inherit- 
ance of wealth, the enjoyment of health, are 
all governed by certain fixed principles which 
must be recognized. The evils of society 
result from the violation of such principles. 
The underlying one is that each one shall 
have his own. That is the definition of 
justice in civil law. The Institutes of Jus- 
tinian, the Roman Law, set out with this 
proposition. 

Opposed to this is communism, with its 
attempt to take from individuals what they 
have acquired, and to distribute it to all mem- 
bers of the State. The criticism he makes is, 
that it is a tax on brain, on justice, on integ- 
rity, on skill, on faith, and on courage ; and 
it is a reward for dulness, sluggishness, and 
laziness. 

He sums up as follows : " If we could 

all learn the simple but great principle of 

doing justice, of allowing each one his own; 

and if each one would make a just use of his 

117 



THE WARDEN 

own, it would temper and balance society, 
and it would then move on harmoniously and 
peacefully." It is another specimen of fine 
philosophical work. It deals with those 
fundamental principles which must underlie 
and regulate all our relations, and which must 
make our civilization. 

The next essay is one on "Education in 
Small Colleges." It was read before the Uni- 
versity Convocation of New York State. It 
was printed in pamphlet form, and favorably 
received here and abroad. The reviews on 
both sides of the ocean were very gratifying. 
We take the liberty of producing one in full. 

" It is one of the best things we have 
received in a long time. It is not only a 
masterly defence of the old curriculum, the 
Literae Humaniores, the liberal culture which 
is the proper work of a college, but it brings 
out in strong relief the real distinction be- 
tween that work and the work of a Univer- 
sity, which is, or should be, to take men who 
have had their faculties already educated in a 
118 



AUTHOR AND SCHOLAR 

college, and give them the instruction or 
information necessary for entrance upon any 
special profession of life. The College sim- 
ply aims at mental discipline, and for that 
nothing has been found better than the old 
course of Latin, Greek, and Mathematics. 
The boys who have had this can afterward 
apply themselves to any special subject, and 
rapidly distance all competitors who have 
not had the advantage of the liberal course. 
Dr. Fairbairn shows that this academic work, 
as distinguished from University specialties, 
can be actually better done in small colleges 
than in large ones, and at less cost of teach- 
ing ; that is, if you go above twenty-five in a 
class, you ought really to double everything 
but your President and Chapel. We are 
satisfied there is a good deal in this view of 
the matter. At any rate, with all our small 
colleges, the number is not so large in pro- 
portion to the population, to say nothing of 
territory, as that of the Gymnasia of Ger- 
many or the Lycees of France, which cover 
119 



THE WARDEN 

the same ground to the degree of B.A. Our 
Universities in this country ought to have 
nothing to do with the under-graduate course. 
It is one thing to offer students the oppor- 
tunity ' to acquire all knowledge on any sub- 
ject,' and quite a different thing to give a 
boy's mind that preparatory training which is 
necessary, if not to his acquiring knowledge 
at all, yet to make his knowledge of any use 
to him after it is acquired. Like Daniel 
Webster, we are partial to the small college." 

In 1886 his first book was published, a 
volume of sermons which had been preached 
in the College Chapel. He had the comfort 
to see it well received by reviewer and reader 
and reprinted abroad. 

In 1887 he published a volume on the 
" Doctrine of Morality in its Relation to the 
Grace of Redemption." We see here the im- 
portance of thorough knowledge of man's 
moral nature. We are shown that the latter 
is commensurate with man's existence. The 
great heathen philosophers in their study of 



AUTHOR AND SCHOLAR 

man made up a system of morality which is 
found in the perfect Christian life to-day. It 
could not be otherwise, for the system of vir- 
tues which it contains arises from the relation 
and connections which one man has with 
another. He shows that although these 
systems and their authors could depict the 
perfect moral life, they were unable to give 
the power and the strength to enact it. The 
Greek and the Roman gathered from Aristotle 
and Cicero the knowledge of morality such 
as is looked for in the Christian community. 
But their lives did not correspond with their 
knowledge. To bring this correspondence 
about there was and is the need of a super- 
natural power, and that power proceeds alone 
from Christian Redemption and Christian 
Grace. 

This book was received with marked favor 
both at home and in foreign lands, and is the 
text-book used in the class-room of a number 
of institutions of learning. 

In 1894 his work on the Oblation and the 
121 



THE WARDEN 

Invocation was issued. It treats of the Obla- 
tion as found in the Roman Liturgy, and also 
in the Greek or Holy Eastern. The primi- 
tive liturgies, the writings of the great Angli- 
can Theologians on this subject, and the 
opinions of the foreign reformers are set forth. 
It is a valuable history of the greatest of 
religious rites, and is the only American book 
on the subject. It is a clear exposition of the 
doctrines as they have come from the early 
Church, separating the additions which have 
been made by the opinions and metaphysical 
excursions of the theological mind. The three 
acts, Institution, Oblation, and Invocation, 
are pointed out in each Liturgy, used in every 
part of the civilized world, in every part of 
the Roman Empire, and in the provinces be- 
yond. The conclusion that the Liturgy, and 
especially the nucleus of the Liturgy, came 
from one source seems irresistible. Great will 
the comfort be that it will bring to the be- 
liever's heart. This mass of testimony it will 
be difficult, if not impossible, for the skeptic 

122 



AUTHOR AND SCHOLAR 

to controvert. I regard it as the best speci- 
men of ecclesiastic evidence in my possession. 

The reviewer treated it as if intended 
for students of theology and the clergy 
chiefly. While in part correct, he erred in 
expression of such opinion, and no doubt 
deterred the general reader and many a 
devout Christian from studying a book which 
is within the comprehension of all and a 
weapon against infidelity. It was pronounced 
a scholarly and exhaustive monograph. 

In 1894 the call came to him to deliver the 
Bishop Paddock lectures. The Paddock 
Lectureship was endowed for the purpose of 
presenting to the world yearly a defence of 
the religion of Jesus Christ as revealed in the 
Holy Bible and illustrated in the book of 
Common Prayer, against the varying errors of 
the day. 

The Warden was now in the seventy- 
seventh year of his age, and for the first time 
began to show the effects of the labor of his 
active career. The physical man was bend- 
123 



THE WARDEN 

ing under undue strain, but the active brain 
still worked with its old-time precision, and 
the welcome task of defence of the Faith was 
undertaken. " The Unity of the Faith " was 
the subject chosen, and was dealt with in six 
lectures, occupying one hour each. One has 
said that the reader of them " feels moved to 
envy of the happy lot that has fallen to the 
' General ' seminarians in this day. We 
cannot fail to see how well equipped by life- 
long studies Dr. Fairbairn came to his ap- 
pointed task in the ripeness of a scholar's 
age ; with what abundant learning well con- 
sidered and a master's orderly grasp for his 
subject." 

The preparation for these lectures, the six 
weary trips to the city, the physical exertion 
of delivering discourses of an hour each, the 
subsequent preparation of them for the press — 
which latter task was performed in the minut- 
est detail, even to the making of the exhaust- 
ive index — left their mark upon this faithful 

servant's frame. It was a great effort, and it 
124 



AUTHOR AND SCHOLAR 



stands a monument to indomitable courage. 
That the doubt of sufficient physical strength 
existed is witnessed by the fact of the re- 
quested presence 
at the lectures of 
one near to him. 
It proved a fitting 
climax to the vet- 
eran, we might 
almost say patri- 
archal, life. 

We have not 
touched upon the 
penned record of 
this active mind. 
We have simply 
given glimpses of 
volumed mass. 

We leave this with our reader, that he may 
judge an unselfish career. 

Bishop Littlejohn, Bishop Horatio Potter, 
and after him Bishop Henry C. Potter, were 
always prompt and profuse with their words 
125 



L 

zfk 

•A 4 


lift* iW 111 


■■> 





Bishop H. C. Potter. 



THE WARDEN 

of encouragement and thanks for these schol- 
arly offerings to the literature of the Church. 
We find carefully preserved among his papers 
these words of commendation, so dear to him 
and his. They were a great spur to his ac- 
tive mind and busy pen, and made his heart 
happy. 

The Society of Science, Letters, and Art of 
London, England, elected him an Honorary 
Fellow, and conferred on him a gold medal in 
consideration of his " high literary and scien- 
tific merit." We note also, in their Journal, 
that " A thoughtful and interesting paper on 
4 The True Idea of a University,' by Dr. Fair- 
bairn, President St. Stephen's, Annandale, N. 
Y., was received with marked appreciation at 
the November meeting, 1887." 

He was elected a Fellow of the Victoria 
Institute or Philosophical Society of Great 
Britain and other foreign societies. 

The degree of D.D. was conferred on him 

several times. He received an LL.D. also. 

When the Board of Regents at Albany cele- 
126 



AUTHOR AND SCHOLAR 



brated their Centennial, the Chancellor wrote 
and urged his presence. He said, among 
other things, " It seems hardly necessary to 
address you personally and urge your attend- 
ance, for to me 
the Convocation 
means you, so loyal 
and devoted have 
you ever been. 
We not only want 
your aid in arrang- 
ing, but in inspir- 
ing us, as you al- 
ways do." 

John V. L. 
Pruyn, Esq., was 
first instrumental 
in introducing him 
to this board. He, 

moreover, entertained him frequently in his 
beautiful residence on Elk Street, Albany. 
The numbers of distinguished divines, law- 
yers, judges, statesmen, and educators here 
127 





B 


, B 



John V. L. Pruyn, LL.D. 



THE WARDEN 

brought together have rendered it historic. 
Mr. and Mrs. Pruyn and their son did much 
to further the Warden's distinguished career. 
They did more : they entwined about it a 
delightful friendship. They made him happy 
in his early days, and to his later they added 
sweetness. 



128 



RETIREMENT 



VIII 

RETIREMENT 




HE Warden's stall in 
the College Chapel 
has been vacant on numer- 
ous occasions during the 
past three years. That 
never occurred before. He was al- 
ways in his place at morning and 
evening service in years gone by. 
But there have been days in succes- 
sion, of late, that we have missed his 
familiar form. The weight of years 
is telling on him, they inform us. 
His step is not so steady nor his form 
so erect as it used to be. There was 
a period during the summer months 
when acute disorder of serious import con- 
131 



THE WARDEN 

fined him to his room. It continued through- 
out the long vacation. The faithful family 
doctor with the aid of skilled consultants 
returned him to his former work. But he 
never was himself again. He struggled 
bravely, though warned to rest by all, to con- 
tinue his active life ; and so he did for weeks 
and months, until the inevitable forced itself 
upon him. It was his wish to die in harness. 
For him inactivity had no charms. It had 
its horrors. 

The scenes which preceded the retirement 
are full of pathos. It was the severing of the 
congenial relations of life. But the situation 
was bravely met, and in a few weeks after we 
find him apparently happy in his new home. 

Dr. Hopson, his helper, his steadfast friend, 

his comforter and supporter, was ever on hand, 

as he had been for the past thirty- five years, 

to uphold him in his trial. The Warden 

often said, " He is the man on whom I can 

always depend." And such is the eulogy of 

all on this good and learned man. Happy are 
132 




Interior of College Chapel. 



RETIREMENT 

the youth who fall under his influence *? The 
habits of study and daily life which they must 
learn from him will be a blessed possession. 

And there was another affectionate and self- 
sacrificing and learned brother who had been 
his ever-present aid. We refer to Professor 
Anthony, whose ministrations had been active 
for many a month. He had been on hand in 
term-time and vacation, at early morn and 
late at night, to share the many duties which 
pressed upon him. Had it not been for him 
the work must have ceased some time before. 
When we say he was as a son we speak not 
too strongly. 

Of the kindly acts of that man of erudi- 
tion, Dr. Olssen, and his other co-adjutors, we 
might speak at length. They sorrowed to 
see him go, and so they showed by their 
many offices. The community around about, 
with the pious priest, Father Cronin, came to 
bid Godspeed to the faithful servant, and he 
departed sorrowing that he would see them 
no more. 

135 



THE WARDEN 

But we must look upon him in his new 
home. He settled in Brooklyn, in a pretty 
little abode near by his loved ones. He 
made it his first duty, day by day, to visit his 
grandchildren who gathered about his loving 
breast, and it was their pleasure in return 
stealthily to seek his entertaining company. 
The happiness that these visits caused was 
mutual, and an ever-present theme. 

As we study the life of the Warden in his 
retirement, we find the activity, the studious 
habits, the regularity in his Sunday duties, the 
eagerness to be of service to his fellow-men 
that we saw in his former life. On one oc- 
casion he read the service twice, preached 
two sermons, and administered Holy Com- 
munion. He referred to it afterward as more 
work than he had done on a single Sunday 
for twenty-five years, and they say he did it 
well. We might tell of the influence he had 
for good on the lives of others in these few 
months. The testimony comes of the turn- 
ing of the wayward to the religious life 
136 



RETIREMENT 

through him. He illustrated the power of 
the life of Faith. 

His fellow-clergy honored him by election 
to their organizations, and his pastor, the Rev. 
Andrew F. Underhill, was the constant com- 
panion and tender guide to their meetings. 

Among his papers we find an address de- 
livered before them, his final effort in this 
line. He evinced in it the same intense in- 
terest in his chosen work that he had from 
the beginning of his ministry. 

He was preparing himself by careful study 
for a work on Moral Theology, when the 
final call came and he left to the world, in- 
stead, a character which well illustrated the 
subject he had in hand. That character came 
not from nature, it came not from culture, it 
came not from education, though all three 
elements had contributed their share to its 
formation. It came from the supernatural 
work of God in the human heart. That 
was the origin of his guilelessness, his faith, 
his devotion, his communion with all that 
137 



THE WARDEN 

was good and lovely in the human char- 
acter, his purity as seen in his gentleness and 
quietness, his benevolence and unselfishness. 
They showed forth the power of the faith and 
the grace of the Gospel. 

The study of such a character is a stimulus. 
It teaches us that Religion is no bondage, no 
slavery; but that which bringeth joy to the 
heart and peace to the daily life. 

The Trustees of St. Stephen's College pre- 
pared for him the following beautiful acknowl- 
edgment of his services to the Church and 
the College. It is a generous and delightful 
benediction and appropriate ending for this 
brief narrative : 

" The Trustees of St. Stephen's College, in 
accepting the resignation of the Rev. Robert 
B. Fairbairn, D.D., LL.D., Warden of this 
institution of learning for a period of more 
than thirty years, desire to make grateful 
mention of his distinguished services, his 
devotion and self-sacrifice. Assuming the 
duties of Warden at a time when the College 
138 



RETIREMENT 

was in its infancy, and with few students on 
its roll, Dr. Fairbairn brought to his work a 
clear brain, a warm heart, an indomitable will, 
and a well-furnished mind. He has left an 
enduring impress on his work in this College, 
founded to train young men for the sacred 
ministry of the Church, and his influence will 
be felt for generations to come in the lives of 
the men who have come under his moulding 
hand. Nearly three hundred candidates for 
Holy Orders have been graduated from St. 
Stephen's during Dr. Fairbairn's Wardenship, 
and the Church and the world have been 
made the richer and the better by the lessons 
of truth and righteousness learned at the feet 
of this Christian scholar. With high purpose 
and unflagging zeal, Dr. Fairbairn has pur- 
sued his course, often in the face of great 
obstacles, and with a single eye to the glory 
of his Divine Master and the service of young 
men in his life-work, and he has earned the 
veneration and good-will and affection of all 

who know him. In retiring from his arduous 

139 



THE WARDEN 

labors, in a ripe old age, he has the satisfac- 
tion of knowing that his work is appreciated 
by the Trustees and patrons of St. Stephen's 
College, and their prayer is that the evening 
of his days may be unclouded, and that al- 
though he has passed the four-score years of 
the Psalmist, the remainder of his noble life 
may bring him the comfort and joy of duty 
well performed." 



140 



ROBERT B. FAIRBAIRN 



IX 



ROBERT B. FAIRBAIRN 



For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to 
himself. — Romans xiv. 7. 

UR thoughts, to-day, are 
fixed often upon him who 
has just passed to another 
state of existence, but who 
for thirty-six years was the 
central point of this com- 
munity. As Warden of 
this College, as Rector of 
this parish, as the friend of every person in 
this neighborhood, Dr. Fairbairn occupied a 
commanding position, and exercised a power- 
ful influence. We looked up to him as our 

* A sermon preached by the Rev. George B. Hopson, D.D., 
Acting Warden in the Chapel of St. Stephen's College, Annan- 
dale, N. Y., Septuagesima, January 29, 1899. 

143 




THE WARDEN 

guide and teacher, whose advice we were to 
follow, and whose example we should imitate. 
His influence was always exerted for good- 
As a light shining in a dark place, as a city 
set on a hill, that cannot be hid, he mani- 
fested the graces and virtues of the Christian 
life. And yet there was no ostentatious dis- 
play of his goodness. Singularly modest in 
his disposition, he would be the last to speak 
of his merits. He seemed to be good, be- 
cause he was good. Out of the abundance 
of his heart, his mouth spoke. His deeds of 
kindness and acts of courtesy were the neces- 
sary expression of his inward feeling. 

It seems fitting that such a character should 
be preserved in our memories, and kept ever 
before us as an object for our imitation. St. 
Paul says : " Be ye followers of God, as dear 
children ; " but he also says : " Be ye follow- 
ers of me, even as I also am of Christ." The 
Lord Jesus is our perfect Model, but His 
saints, who, in their daily life, reflect some of 
the brightness of that Sun of Righteousness, 
144 



ROBERT B. FAIRBAIRN 

may also help to guide us on our road to 
heaven. Though they have passed beyond 
the vail, their memories should not perish. 
The influence of their good deeds should 
not cease with their earthly existence. We 
should treasure such lives as a precious herit- 
age. We should talk of them to our chil- 
dren, and our children's children. We should 
hand them down through the ages to come, 
that they may be an incentive to generations 
yet unborn. When they see what human 
nature can, by the grace of God, effect, they 
also will be led to conquer besetting sins, and 
to rise to a like degree of holiness. 

Robert BrinckerhorT Fairbairn was born in 
the city of New York, May 27, 1818. He 
had attained the ripe age of eighty years and 
eight months, when he was called from the 
toils and sorrows of earth to the rest and 
reward of Paradise. His education was con- 
ducted at Bristol and Trinity Colleges (from 
which latter institution he was graduated in 
1840), and at the General Theological Semi- 
145 



THE WARDEN 

nary. He was admitted to the diaconate in 
1843, an< ^ advanced to the priesthood in 1844 
by Bishop Onderdonk, of New York. He 
was Rector of Christ Church, Troy, from 
1843 to 1848; of St. John's Church, Still- 
water, from 1849 to 1 8j2; of St. Andrew's, 
Providence, R. I., from 1852 to 1853; an d of 
Calvary Church, Cairo, from 1853 to *862. 
While Rector of the latter church, he resided 
in Catskill, and was Principal of the Catskill 
Academy. In 1862, he was invited by our 
Trustees to take the Chair of Mathematics, 
which had just been rendered vacant by the 
resignation of Professor Babcock. He ac- 
cepted the appointment, and discharged his 
duties so satisfactorily that when, in 1863, 
Dr. Richey resigned the Wardenship, Mr. 
Fairbaim was chosen as his successor. This 
office he held, as you know, for thirty-five 
years, giving to the College the best powers 
of his mind and body, his rich stores of learn- 
ing, his love, his zeal, his care, his life. 

He was a man of remarkable industry. I 
146 



ROBERT B. FAIRBAIRN 

was informed of my election to the Chair of 
Latin, after the beginning of the College year, 
in the fall of 1863. The Tutor who had 
been appointed was out at sea, and unable to 
return for a few weeks. But the Warden, 
though alone, never thought of putting off 
the opening of the College. Single-handed, 
he undertook the work, and taught all the 
classes in all the departments, until assistance 
arrived. It was characteristic of the man. 
He was ever ready to do his share, and more 
than his share, of teaching and preaching, and 
never complained of being overworked. His 
aim was the success of the College, and the 
thorough education of young men for the 
ministry, and to accomplish that, he spared 
not himself. It is said that the busiest men 
are the very ones who can always find time 
for one thing more, and to whom others are 
wont to go for counsel and assistance. The 
Warden always had time to visit w T ith a 
friend, to give advice to a student or parish- 
ioner, or to attend to any unexpected duty 
147 



THE WARDEN 

that might be laid upon him. He also found 
time to do a vast amount of reading. He 
bought new publications, and made it a rule 
to read, each day, at least a hundred pages. 
In this way he kept abreast of the times, and 
accumulated vast stores of information, which, 
with his powerful intellect, he assimilated 
and utilized in his daily work. 

The trials of life are various, and come in 
many forms to all of us ; but the Warden of 
a College, especially during the struggling 
years of its early history, has his own peculiar 
cares and anxieties, beyond what fall to the 
lot of others. He, however, was always 
cheerful, hopeful, patient, uncomplaining. He 
made the best of everything. He did what 
he could with small resources. He looked 
on the bright side. He gained friends for the 
College, and gradually accumulated buildings, 
endowments, apparatus, and books, which, 
though still unequal to its needs, are vastly 
superior to what they were in 1863. There 
were many dark days, many critical periods, 
148 



ROBERT B. FAIRBAIRN 

when a weaker man would have given up 
the task; but he was steadfast, unmovable, 
always abounding in the work of the Lord, 
believing that the Lord had given him this 
work to do, and that he would be false to his 
trust if he abandoned it. 

He had the courage of his convictions. 
He had clear ideas of what he wished to ac- 
complish, and the courage to maintain them. 
While courteous to those who differed from 
him in opinion, he held tenaciously to his 
own views, and often, by the clearness and 
force of his arguments, convinced his oppo- 
nents. There was nothing hazy in his senti- 
ments. He had a logical and mathematical 
mind, and, by the processes of reason, arrived 
at definite conclusions. 

In his theological views and religious prac- 
tices, he occupied the middle ground, yielding 
to neither extreme. He was neither High, 
nor Low, nor Broad, nor Narrow, but a sound, 
conservative, Prayer-book Churchman. He 
permitted 4 certain practices, of which he did 
149 



THE WARDEN 

not altogether approve, because others desired 
them, and the Church was comprehensive 
enough to contain Christians of varying be- 
liefs. He was a well-read theologian, and 
had a reason for the faith that was in him. 

He was a courteous gentleman. He 
showed it in word and deed, in private and 
public life, with strangers and with friends. 
It was not a veneer put on for effect, but it 
was the prevailing habit of his life. Even 
in extreme age, when bodily infirmities 
rendered it difficult, he rose from his chair 
to greet a friend or to bid him farewell. A 
favorite maxim, which he often quoted to 
the students, was that of William of Wyke- 
ham, " Manners makyth man." He tried to 
impress upon them that courtesy, refinement, 
kind attentions, a delicate regard for the feel- 
ings and wishes of others were important 
factors in their future work. These, com- 
bined with earnest devotion and religious 
principle, would win success, where intellec- 
tual power alone would fail. 
150 



ROBERT B. FAIRBAIRN 

Dr. Fairbairn was a natural educator. He 
possessed not only a well-trained mind and 
vast stores of learning, but also the ability to 
impart his knowledge to others. He pre- 
sented truth in such a form that it left an im- 
press. He interested and attracted by the 
force of his arguments and the clearness of 
his illustrations. One of his former students 
once said to me, " The Warden was the first 
man who taught me to think for myself." 
His pupils learned to argue logically, to 
draw conclusions, to see the connection be- 
tween cause and effect. 

But while training their intellects, he did 
not neglect their morals. Christian education 
demands spiritual as well as mental culture. 
The formation of character during the period 
of College life is vastly more important than 
mere literary acquirements. He studied the 
lives of those who had been committed to his 
care. He watched over them with a father's 
solicitude. He noted their strength and their 
weakness. He gave to one a word of en- 
151 



THE WARDEN 

couragement ; to another, reproof; to another, 
advice ; to another, warning. His sermons in 
the College Chapel were not vague, general, 
pointless. They were aimed at something. 
They were directed to particular sins, which 
he wished to remove, or addressed to some 
who were weak in the Faith, and whom he 
wished to strengthen. But better than all else 
in this moulding of character was the ex- 
ample of his own life. No one could long 
associate with him, without seeing that he was 
strong in the Lord, and in the power of His 
might ; that he believed as seeing Him who 
is invisible ; that the existence of the Divine 
Being and the life beyond the grave were as 
real to him as any object of sense. How 
could one, who, for four years or more, was 
daily brought under such influence, fail to 
profit by it ? Would it not put to shame all 
meanness and selfishness, strengthen his fee- 
ble efforts, and make him aspire to higher 
degrees of holiness? These young minds, 
that were brought under his moulding hand, 
152 



ROBERT B. FAIRBAIRN 

during this plastic period of their lives, are 
now scattered all over the United States, and 
even in foreign lands, preaching the gospel of 
the grace of God. They are proclaiming to 
others truths learned from him. They are 
displaying to others characters formed by 
him. They are handing down through the 
ages the lessons which he inculcated. Go 
where you will, in any large gathering of the 
clergy of the Church, in Convention, in Con- 
vocation, in Archdeaconry meetings, at the 
laying of a corner-stone, or at the consecra- 
tion of a Bishop or a Church, you are sure to 
find some of the Warden's boys. Distance 
and separation seemed to strengthen their 
love for him. They revered him as the 
teacher of their youth. They loved to tell 
to others the story of his life. Their greatest 
gratification, when they returned to the an- 
nual Commencements, was to find him still 
here, and to enjoy his cordial greeting and 
ready sympathy. Can such a man die? Is 
not his life reproduced, to-day, in the lives of 
153 



THE WARDEN 

those who profited by his teachings'? Will 
it not be reproduced again and again in the 
lives of those, who, in turn, are being 
moulded by their example and instruction? 
A stone drops into the quiet bosom of a lake, 
and sinks to the bottom ; but the waves 
which it produces move on in ever-widening 
circles, and find no rest until the shore is 
reached. A life disappears from our sight, 
but it still lives in Paradise. Its prayers and 
alms have gone up for a memorial before 
God. Its good deeds are numbered in earth 
and heaven. " Blessed are the dead which 
die in the Lord, from henceforth : yea, saith 
the Spirit, that they may rest from their la- 
bors; and their works do follow them." 




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